The Asclepheus
by Dakkaman777
Summary: Join the paths of a Human Xenobiologist, a Human super soldier, a Yautja huntress and an Elite alien Samurai as they fight against the likes of Xenomorphs, Black Yautja and various alien horrors in order to save the universe from the darkness that even the mightiest of races fear. Rated M for Gore, swearing and intimate interspecies relationships...basically all the good stuff
1. prelude

I do not own AVP or events of any of the alien or predator films, I do however own OC characters aliens and the events that take place within Asclepheus along with the concepts presented in this story.

Ok dudes and dudettes this is Dakkaman777 and this is my first AVP fanfic so please keep an open mind and try and take in all the info I present in it.

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Asclepheus: prelude

'_I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago._' – Edgar Allen Poe

it is the year 2200, and humanity has finally taken to the stars in the pursuit of many things; discovery, immortality and answers to the questions that have plagued us ever since that first human looked up and thought to himself "why am I here?"

Humanity has achieved so much within the course of 200 years, at that time we never would have thought it possible to expand our race throughout the cosmos and settle on different planets, at the time we never thought it possible to find alien life upon different worlds, at the time we never thought about the possibility that we were alone in the universe.

Since humanities ascent from the surface of the earth we have encountered many types of alien life, the majority of which were either snarling beasts or hybrids of plants and insects, many that resembled life on our home world, many that didn't. But no matter how many types of life we found there would always be memories of our first encounters with intelligent life, and by that I mean the Xenomorphs and the Yautja.

Both races were deadly and dangerous in their own rights but they were infinitely different in many strange ways, the Yautja were the first true sentient race that we officially came into contact with, strange how they had been aware of us for much longer than we were of them, they hunted us like sport for centuries taking our skulls and skins as trophies of their hunts, this was evident from one such encounter in south America where a team of highly trained commando's was killed off one by one by such a hunter, there were only two survivors who lived to tell the story. After many encounters with their race they came to see us differently every time our species crossed paths. Several battles with their race had been fought and thousands died on each side, human soldiers and yautja hunters alike shared many a battlefield as a graveyard until the yautja saw that we would not be treated like prey anymore, and from this came a sense of not respect but more like acceptance, the relations between our species is fragile at the moment as the hunters agreed to not slaughter us In droves as long as we never interfered with their hunts.

The Xenomorphs on the other hand were a completely different story; our first official encounter with them was in the year 2122 where a cargo ship designated the Nostromo set down on the planet LV-426 when a strange distress signal had been picked up by the crew, a creature got on board by impregnating one of the crew with an embryo, within 3 days the entire crew side from the warrant officer was slaughtered by the alien creature, the warrant officer known as Ellen Ripley had managed to escape the ship and kill the creature by jettisoning it out of the escape pods airlock. 50 years later she was recovered from the escape pod and taken back to gateway, she tried to warn us of the derelict ship that she claimed to have held thousands of the alien eggs aboard, but the idiots in charge didn't listen and were more interested in how much money they had lost, the colony of Hadley's hope was stationed on LV-426 and within a few days of discovering the derelict ship the entire colony went silent.

Ellen Ripley was sent with a contingent of USS colonial marines to investigate that happened within the colony, what they didn't expect was that an entire hive of Xenomorphs had taken over the colony, within the short span of a day the Xenomorphs proceeded to wipe out the contingent and it was discovered that the Xenomorphs were infinitely more intelligent than what we originally anticipated and shared a hive mind that was controlled by a matriarch…a Queen, the only survivors of the incident were corporal Dwayne hicks, Ellen Ripley, a child survivor named newt and a synthetic android/ artificial person designated Bishop.

Their experiences with the Xenomorphs lead to many different outcomes, one such outcome was that the nations of the world banded together and began the now famous project Ares, a project that took the greatest soldiers from around the world and trained them to become a special task force with the specific Aim of defending the human race and its colonies from the Xenomorph threat, the countries of the world all agreed to contribute their best soldiers, scientists and resources in order to make it possible. The result was the birth of the myrmidons, genetically enhanced super soldiers who were twice as fast, twice as strong and twice as agile as any normal human, with the best training in espionage, combat and stealth and the best equipment humanity had to offer the myrmidons became the human race's best weapon against the Xenomorphs. There are Myrmidon task force bases stationed on every human colony where they await their missions from superiors.

Another such outcome of the human race's new knowledge of the Xenomorphs was the company Weyland-Yutani, the respected creators of the bishop android and the most well-known conglomerate in earth history, the company seems to have a secret interest with the Xenomorphs especially the chairman Charles Bishop Weyland who seems to admire their "purity" and will stop at nothing to gain said purity for their own personal gains.

This is where our story begins with the birth of the Asclepheus project.

Asclepheus was the designation of an ancient alien ship found on the surface of a far-away world in the year 2187, the ship was of such grand design and massive scale that It was simply too amazing to ignore, the ship was salvaged and was to be reconstructed using state of the art human technology which was easier said than done, it took 10 years to finish the job of constructing the ships vital systems such as the life support and gravity conductors, one of the most strangest things about this ship however was the fact that it had a drive core 20 times the size of any human made ship and an energy core that was made a megaton nuclear reactor look like a triple a battery by comparison, no one knew why the ship had these and to be honest it was probably best unsaid.

In the year 2197 the Asclepheus project was created to accomplish the mission of researching all types of alien life in the universe, the ship's colossal size made it perfect for the task of housing the different species, the ship was outfitted with atmospheric conductors which would create specific artificial environments for the ship's inhabitants, regenerative food deposits which could sustain the crew for years on end and on-board gardens which would produce the vast amounts of oxygen that the crew would need on their long and arduous journey across space. The ship's crew where some of the human race's best engineers and scientists, the ship also had a great deal of ambassadors on board in the rare occasion that they make contact with a sentient species.

The Asclepheus was also assigned two human battleships in order to protect it in the event of an attack; the USS Quatermaine and the USS Newton which each carried an army of highly trained marines followed by the two captains of the respective ships; Captain Nathanial Grey of the USS Quatermaine and Captain Cynthia Azarov of the USS Newton, both were decorated Captains who were more than qualified for the mission, Nathanial was a veteran of the Yautja wars while Cynthia was famous for saving the colony of Nova Terra from an asteroid strike 3 years back.

For 3 years over 563 alien species were catalogued aboard the ship though none were even near the intelligence level worthy of being called sentient, signals that were coded in binary were sent out weekly aboard the Asclepheus in the hopes of contacting a sentient species that was more interested in peace and co-existence rather than hunting and hiving.

The habit of sending out weekly transmissions seemed to be wasted as nothing was sent back, many of the military personnel thought it was a waste of time to even hope of contact with something other than Yautja, this belief quickly spread to the crew and almost too the researchers until….something replied and it wasn't yautja or human.

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So there's the prelude to my Fanfic in my world of AVP, don't worry the Yautja and Xenomorphs will play very large parts within the story and I will begin the next chapter with the introduction of my own OC alien race who will play a very pivotal part in the story.

In the next few chapters I will also begin introducing the characters whom you will follow throughout the story as it progresses and don't worry there will be a healthy mix of humans and aliens for that.

Please don't forget to leave a review on this prelude and I'll see you in the next chapter, I will also gladly take any constructive criticism you give me as long as you are civil about it.

Next Time - Chapter 1: The Kamads.


	2. Chapter 1: The Kamads

Hi everyone this is Dakkaman777 and here is chapter 1, in this chapter I'm introducing the Kamads who are my OC alien race, unlike many other writers I'm going to approach the kamads introduction by showing you their home world and their way of life instead of introducing them as soon as they make contact with the humans.

And seeing how none of you speak Kamad this entire chapter the Kamads will be speaking English (I would be a crappy writer if I did otherwise) enjoy.

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Chapter 1: The Kamads

**Human Year: 800 AD**

On the far edges of the cosmos lies a planet, a planet that has existed for the better part of 8 billion years, this planet's name is Arkadia Prime and it is an arctic planet twice the size of earth. 45% of the planet's surface is covered in large mountain ranges and glaciers while the rest is covered in large cities and vast snow fields.

The life forms present on the surface of Arkadia Prime are among the most dangerous in the universe, the great LarGuar, a colossal flying reptile capable of changing the very landscapes of the planets they roost on, the gargantuan RaaLtrak, a reptilian mammal that could make the pyramids look like road bumps. But these creatures were not the dominant beings of the planet, the dominant species of Arkadia Prime were the Kamads, a race of reptilian humanoids who had ruled their planet for 7 ½ billion years and managed to build an Empire than stretched over thousands of worlds and consisted of hundreds of different species.

One such Kamad was sat down cross legged in a large gathering hall; this particular Kamad was only 30 years old which by Kamad standards meant he was the human equivalent of a 13 year old, this Kamad had shoulder length white hair and chalk white skin, Kamads all looked very human and were very identical to them if not for the features that set them apart; in place of fingernails Kamads had sharp black claws and instead of flat teeth like a human Kamads had serrated teeth like that of a shark. Kamads also had long bulky reptilian tails like those of a monitor lizard and not to mention the fact that Kamads had reptilian eyes.

This Kamad was sat in a large gathering hall and was wearing what seemed like a Japanese style kimono that was coloured black with a white haori jacket, this young Kamad was gazing out of a nearby window out at the snow-capped city, what got his attention the most was the amount of spiralling towers and gleaming temples that adorned the city.

"ELI PAY ATTENTION!" a large male Kamad sitting in front of all the other Kamads shouted at the boy

"Oh I'm sorry master" the young boy said as he looked back at the Kamad

This was the Kamad equivalent of a school and the young Kamad known as Eli was having a very bad day, the Kamad sat in front of Eli and his classmates was a teacher or at least the closest thing to a teacher.

"I know the city is beautiful Eli, but if you doze off like that again I'll have to assign you to mistress Prevelia's class" the large kamad announced earning a few chuckles and snickers from the other young kamads in the room. Mistress Prevelia was for all intense and purposes a good teacher but when it came to disciplinary procedures she tended to be a tad bit extreme, like the one time she caught a fellow teacher drinking on the job, she chained him to the front of the school….naked.

"Well I'm glad that settles that then." The kamad then returned to teaching his students.

"Now can anyone tell me the difference between a red dwarf and a neutron star?" the teacher began as students from all around the room raised their hands to answer the question.

"Hey Eli, how's the view?" whispered a black haired male kamad from Eli's right

"What's that supposed to mean Rezeal?" Eli whispered back

"From the window, you always pick a seat next to a window; it must be a hell of a view" Rezeal stated

"Its spectacular" Eli smiled to his friend earning a smile back

*a few hours later

Eli and Rezeal left the school now with their casual clothes on, even though the Kamads were born on the arctic planet they still preferred to wear warm clothing when walking around outside, the two young boys were walking side by side until they saw a crowd of Kamads gathering around something.

"Want to get a better look Eli?" Rezeal asked his friend

"Does a LarGuar have wings?" Eli stated as the two boys began pushing their ways through the crowd until they came to see what everyone was gathered around.

A very large and advanced looking kamad ship was set down on a landing platform though what got most people's attention were the three Kamads boarding the ship, these kamads were dressed as if they were going into battle. The first kamad that seemed to be the leader was wearing very intricately patterned armour that looked like a cross between a Japanese samurai's and a medieval knights, he was also wearing a flowing red cloak and had a very beautiful looking broadsword sheathed in his belt. The second kamad was wearing more lightweight armour that looked less bulky and more suited for movement rather than protection; he did however have a steel pauldron with a symbol of a LarGuar with an arrow in its throat on his right shoulder, he carried a Bladebow which was a kamad weapon designed for both long range and short range combat, this kamad was hooded and wore a red cloak the same as the leader. The third Kamad wore armour that leaned toward the medieval knight style than the samurai style, he also worse a horned helm and had a large two handed axe on his back.

"Wow…Elites" Rezeal breathed in awe as both he and Eli watched the Elites board the ship, the Elites were the greatest warriors the Kamads had at their disposal, the best of the best, warriors that rose through the ranks to become instruments of the Emperor's will across the Empire, It was every Kamad child's dream to become an Elite.

"I wonder what they're going off to do" Rezeal said with wonder

"Probably something exiting, dangerous and awesome" Eli watched as the ship took off into the skies and out of the planet's atmosphere.

"Eli?" Rezeal asked

"Yes?"

"Do you think that will be us someday? Flying off to new worlds in search of adventure and glory?"

"I'm certain of it my friend, now come on if I'm late my father will be furious" Eli said as he and Rezeal began running down the streets.

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After a few long minutes of running Rezeal and Eli finally made it to their destination, the shining crown of the city, the palace of the Emperor, oh did I forget to mention? Eli was the first son of the present Emperor and heir to the throne.

"I'll see you later Rezeal" Eli waved as he ran up the large stairway to the palace doors, as Eli came to the large doors he stopped and looked to the two guards standing watch gripping halberds while dressed in ornate armour.

"Is father in the middle of something?" Eli asked

"His meeting with the Primarchs finished an hour an ago my prince" one guard said

The Primarchs were the emperor's chief generals, rulers of his armies and his closest advisors, Eli knew the Primarchs personally as he grew up learning the ways of the emperors and saw the Primarchs as Uncles, Aunts and friends of his father.

Eli then sighed before opening the doors to the palace and stepping through into the hall of the throne room, the hall was of such grand and beautiful design that it was impossible not to be in awe of it, by sides of the hall were grand pillars with intricate and beautiful carvings of the warriors of old and ancient battles past. In between the pillars were statues of the previous Emperors all the way back to the first Emperor whose statue was set behind the great throne of the Emperor.

Eli attempted to make as little sound as he could in order to not draw the attention of the Kamad sitting in the throne.

"If you think I can't smell, see or hear you, you are sadly mistaken my boy" a powerful commanding voice echoed through the halls causing Eli to stop dead in his tracks

"Come here my son" the voice said, Eli sighed and began walking down the hall toward the throne, sitting on the throne was a large male kamad with pitch black hair in the style of braided dreadlocks with many ornate rings adorning them, he wore blue robes with intricate markings all over them with segments of ornate armour adorning his large muscular figure.

The emperor sat with a troubled look on his face as his son came to him, his hands were clasped together in front of his face as he sighed.

"You were supposed come straight home Eli" the Emperor said with a hint of annoyance in his voice

"I was going to father, but Rezeal and I were going to..." Eli began until his father cut him off.

"Oh so it was Rezeal again? What did you two do this time?"

"…..nothing" Eli said trying to hide something

"Really? Because I was informed that you and him cut the reigns of the KreeVans in the stables across town"

"…..no we didn't" Eli said earning only a sigh from his father.

The Emperor then rose from his throne and began walking away, he turned to his son and said

"Walk with me son" Eli quickly obeyed and began walking with his father

The height difference between the two was obvious where Eli was a measly 4 foot his father towered above him at a stunning 9 feet, male kamads could grow to become very tall with time and some Kamads could even grow to stand at 12 foot if they had the right build.

Eli and his father then came to the balcony of the palace overlooking the entire city with the large mountain ranges in the distance, the moonlight shone off of the snow and caused it to glisten, this made the entire city seem like it was made of jewels as if it wasn't beautiful enough. The Emperor then looked over the city and extended his arm to it.

"Look my son, tell me what you see" this confused Eli as he looked over the city while trying to peek over and through the railings.

"I see the city of Arkadius and the great creations of the Kamad people" Eli replied

"Well you aren't wrong my son, but did you forget about that?" the Emperor said pointing up at the stars in the night sky.

"The stars?" Eli asked

"Not just stars Eli, but an entire universe full of life, and our empire covers how much of it?"

"uuuuum…..60% father?"

"Wrong, we will never even in the great span of eternity discover all of the wondrous and beautiful things in this universe, I doubt we even know of 1% of the universe right now, though I can tell you one thing I am certain of" the Emperor then crouched down and put a hand on his son's shoulder

"Every one of us has a purpose my son, the purpose of the sun is to bring light to our world while the snow and ice is to keep us strong and vigilant, the purpose of the painter is to bring his vision of art into the world while the purpose of the warrior is to protect those weaker than them. As the Emperor it is my purpose to protect and be an example to the people of this universe, not just Kamads but every species that deserves it"

"Father I don't understand" Eli said unsure of what his father meant

"You are my son and when I pass into the next world, you will become the protector and guardian of the people of this universe"

"But father why protect people who aren't our responsibility? Shouldn't we simply look out for our Empire and let the others protect themselves?"

"No my son, it is the duty and purpose of the strong to protect and fight for those who can't protect themselves, it is the reason why the strong exist, if the pillars of this palace weren't strong then the entire structure would give way. As my eldest son and heir you must learn this well, for you will be the Emperor and it will be your duty to protect those who need it"

"I don't think I can father" Eli said

"One day my son, you will be strong and wise enough to take my place and then you will understand why you are here, for that you must learn well and train hard" the Emperor ruffled Eli's white hair.

"Would becoming an Elite be a good way father?" Eli asked his father with a look of hope on his face

"It would be a good way to start" the Emperor chuckled as his son leapt and hugged him.

"Brother? Father?" came another voice; this voice was only slightly younger than Eli's as it came from a smaller Kamad, a little black haired male with a strange breathing apparatus covering half his face.

"Taruro, what are you doing out of bed?" the Emperor asked his middle son

"Yuna wouldn't stop crying and mother is asleep" the young Kamad said rubbing his eyes

"Eli go help your little brothers sleep" at this Eli nodded and went with his little brother.

The Emperor stood where he was and looked over his city, he then sniffed the air a few times and his heightened sense of smell picked something up.

"How long have you been standing there Hanzek?"

"It's amazing that you managed to pick me up this soon Rokuro, I even tried covering my scent this time" the second kamad said as he emerged from the shadows.

"Were you watching?" Rokuro asked

"Why of course, it's very rare that I get to see you act like an actual father, it's actually kind of sweet" Hanzek said wiping his eyes as if crying.

Rokuro turned to get a good look at his brother; Hanzek was one of the Primarchs and Rokuro's brother, he wore a large basket hat and a cloak that covered what he was wearing underneath, the Primarch also had the same dreadlock hair that Rokuro did, it was a warrior's hairstyle after all.

"Did you hear what he said about becoming an Elite?" Rokuro asked

"He takes after his father after all" Hanzek said with a grin

"I don't think I want him exposed to that type of life"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember the things we saw in our time as Elites?"

"The boy will have to see that life sooner or later, name one Kamad emperor who wasn't previously an Elite"

"I guess you have a point" Rokuro said after a long pause of thought.

"It is expected of an emperor to be a great warrior, and what better way than to become an Elite?"

Rokuro simply looked out onto the city and leant on the railings, Hanzek put his hand on his brother's shoulder

"He will be fine brother, before you know it he will be one of the deadliest creatures in the universe, and he will be able to defend himself"

"I suppose you're right"

"So I'm wiser than the great Emperor Rokuro?"

"Don't push your luck" the two brothers laughed together as the city lights flickered.

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**TIMESKIP: 1400 YEARS LATER**

**HUMAN YEAR: 2200 AD**

A single Kamad stood in the centre of a room wearing a pair of steel plated boots that went up to his knees, a pair of black chain mail trousers with a red sash around his waist, a pair of fingerless gloves and a blindfold. The Kamad had long white dreadlocks that reached down to his shoulder blades that where adorned with gold rings , his very muscular figure signified that he was a warrior, the kamad was holding two intricately patterned katanas and had them down at his sides.

Four other Kamads slowly approached him from the left, the right, behind and in front, these other kamads wore what seemed to be black body suits adorned with black armour plates and wielded katanas of their own.

The white haired kamad took a long sniff of the air.

The first kamad made his move and attacked the blindfolded warrior, he took a swipe with his katana which the white haired kamad dodged and delivered a kick to his face, the next kamad attacked from behind trying to impale the blindfolded warrior who side stepped and elbowed him in the face sending him reeling.

The next two kamads decided to attack at the same time from two different fronts; the warrior sniffed again and began deflecting their attacks with his katanas, the two warriors exchanged sword blows with their enemy for a short while until the white haired warrior smirked and suddenly crouched down and cut off both of one of the kamads legs causing the kamad to yell in pain as luminescent blue blood gushed from the wounds, the white haired warrior then impaled the other kamad with both swords and tossed him to the other side of the room.

The two kamads from before began their next attack as the white haired warrior engaged them, the first kamad took a few swings only to have his arm cut off and receive a sharp kick to the stomach sending him flying, the last kamad standing attacked desperately trying to land at least one blow only to have the blindfolded kamad dodge every blow without trying, the white haired warrior then kicked the katana out of his foes grip and then deliver a second kick to his face which sent him to the floor.

The kamad had his back to the floor and the white haired warrior stabbed his swords into the ground in a scissor motion around his neck, the kamad on the floor was panting while the warrior above him smiled.

"TIME!" the warrior shouted

"14 seconds, a new record!" another kamad emerged with a time on the wrist computer on his gauntlet.

The white haired kamad removed his blindfold to reveal his golden reptilian eyes and threw it to the floor; he then removed his swords from the ground and helped the other kamad up.

"Good effort my friend, but your footwork was the problem" the white haired warrior said.

"But you were blindfolded my lord"

"I could hear your steps, trust me it was your footwork"

"Thank you my lord Eli" the other kamad said as he bowed, Eli then held his sword tip to this kamad's chin.

"Never take your eyes off an enemy, even when bowing" Eli said

"Of course my lord"

"And don't call me lord for Fra'lk's sake" Eli swore, the other kamad then left, another kamad entered the room, a kamad wearing a long red coat with black markings, black dreadlocks with gold rings, he also wore black steel plated boots, gauntlets and a black steel plated undershirt, this kamad's armguards reached up to his shoulders and had a single black steel shoulder guard on his left shoulder. The kamad in question then began clapping as he approached Eli.

"Nicely done my friend, I've heard of disarming the enemy but…" the kamad looked at the warrior who got his arm cut off who was busy trying to re-attach his arm "…that was something else"

The kamads were lucky indeed to have a regeneration ability, on a planet where frostbite could make limbs fall off, it was handy to have the ability to regrow limbs and heal wounds rapidly, the kamads who had their limbs cut off by Eli would simply re-attach their limbs to the bleeding stubs and they would be good as new while the kamad who was impaled would only have to wait a minute before he was back to 100%.

"Oh they will be fine, after all we've had worse haven't we Rezeal?" Eli bumped fists with his lifelong friend; Eli went up to the kamad who had his legs severed and handed him one of legs while he was busy re-attaching one.

"Sorry about that my friend, but at least you won't fall for that same trick twice" Eli said

"Don't worry my prince it isn't the first time I've had my legs cut off" the kamad chuckled as did Eli, Eli then went to get dressed.

Eli was now wearing his Elite attire which consisted of his steel plated boots, black chain mail trousers and a long black leather coat, he also wore a red armguard on his left arm that was in the style of a medieval knight's, he had a steel pauldron on his right shoulder and a samurai style chest plate, he also wore a black arm cover on his right arm which covered his entire arm and his hand, the arm cover also had a few steel plates attached.

Eli stared into the mirror and took a long look at himself

"Came a long way in a thousand years eh?" Eli said to himself as he put on a red and white patterned bandana around his neck.

A thousand years to a kamad was like ten to a human and Eli was now a fine young man who just reached his prime, in the thousand years of his maturity Eli had become a force to be reckoned with, he was no longer a little Kamad who couldn't defend himself, he was now one of the Kamad Elites and was an achieved Blade master, a warrior who was skilled in the art of combat and swordsmanship.

Rezeal had also become an Elite in the many years that past and was Eli's teammate on many a mission, while Eli used a pair of katanas Rezeal used something a bit more unconventional, he wielded a weapon known as a Hookblade which was a designed to bring enemies in close so the user could finish them off with a short sword or dagger, his style of fighting was unorthodox by Kamad standards even though it was common for an Elite to be unorthodox, in fact it was one of the reasons they were so deadly to begin with.

"Finish dressing proper your highness?" Rezeal joked as he peeked through the door

"Go Fra'lk yourself Rezeal" Eli swore earning a chuckle from Rezeal

* * *

Eli and Rezeal were now walking side by side down the streets of the city and at one particular corner they saw a few kamad children looking at them with the same wonder in their eyes that they had when they were younger, now both Eli and Rezeal knew that being an Elite wasn't all glory and action, true it did have its exciting moments but mostly their missions really showed how dark the universe could be, an assassination mission would get very complicated when a targets family would get in the way, an exploration mission would uncover dark secrets or sentient species that had been destroyed way before their time.

"So what did my father say the mission was?" Eli asked

"He was mum on that, he only mentioned that whatever it was it deserved the attention of two high ranking Elites like us, you especially" Rezeal said to his friend

"It must be important then"

"That's putting it lightly; this mission is ranked as a category 5"

"Category 5? There are only 3 things that could mean, declaration of war, a planet destruction order or first contact with another species"

"Let's hope it's the latter"

No matter what the mission was, it would not break Eli's or Rezeal's resolve in the matter, they had come to take whatever the mission was, he had learned that if he was going to take his father's place as emperor someday he was going to have to do the difficult things for the sake of the Empire.

It wasn't long until Eli and Rezeal came to the doors of the palace, the palace had hardly been touched by time in fact it looked even better than it did a thousand years ago. Eli looked to one of the palace guards who hadn't changed at all over the long thousand years

"Is the Emperor expecting us?" Eli asked

"He has awaited your return for an hour my prince" one of the guards said

"As you were" Eli said as he and Rezeal entered the palace

The two guards were silent for a moment until they were sure the prince was out of range.

"I can't remember a single time he hasn't been late" the first guard said

"Some things never change"

Eli and Rezeal walked down the hallway of the palace until they came to the Emperor, the Emperor was sat in his throne with a pair of armed guards at his left and right. Eli and Rezeal went down to one knee before the Emperor in respect.

"No need for formalities boys, get up" the Emperor said with a 'get up' hand motion

"What are your orders my lord?" Rezeal spoke up

The Emperor looked to the guards at his sides and waved his hand

"Leave us" the guards obeyed and left the Emperor alone with the two elites.

"As you are aware this mission I have planned for you is a category 5, and is of the upmost importance"

Eli and Rezeal then stood silent for the Emperor to continue

"A few days ago a transmission was picked up from one of our warships on patrol; the signal was a simple but effective binary code holding a message"

"A message father?" Eli asked

"Yes a message in the language of the human race"

"The humans?! Since when did those primitives have the technology to send us a receivable message?" Rezeal exclaimed.

"As you know our research on the humans' show that they are very fast at advancing, this has been proven more so within the past 200 years, apparently they have had several encounters with the Yautja during that time" the Emperor said only to be interrupted by his son

"Ah then it's no wonder we didn't know this, the Yautja aren't very high on sharing information with us" Eli said

"Apparently over the past 200 years, the humans have managed to master space travel and are colonizing many worlds in their sector; this particular message identifies one of their achievements as the Asclepheus"

"The Asclepheus?" Eli asked

"It's the designation for their most advanced ship" Rokuro answered

"Is the mission to disable the ship or steal it?" Rezeal asked

"Neither"

"What? Then why do you need us for this mission?" Eli asked the Emperor

"This mission is one of first contact, to our knowledge the humans have only encountered one other sentient species and that would be the Yautja, the purpose of the message they sent is to make contact with other sentiments. It is your mission to represent our people and allow the humans to learn what they can to gain their trust, that way there is a chance they could become valuable allies to the Empire"

"And why may I ask are you sending us instead of an ambassador?" Eli asked

"You are to become Emperor after me my son, who better to make first contact with the humans than you, this will also show the humans our trust in them"

"What if they are hostile?"

"Then defend yourselves, you two are some of the best combatants the Elites have to offer, this mission must succeed. You two are to be an example of our people in this matter, I have the greatest faith in you and so does the rest of the empire" the Emperor noticed the look of doubt on his son's face

"Rezeal can you leave my son and I for a moment?" Rezeal obeyed and left the room; Rokuro then rose from his throne and approached his son. Eli had indeed grown over the years as his father no longer towered over him, Rokuro placed his hand on his sons shoulder

"what is the matter Eli?"

"I don't think I can do this father, this task is too great for me to accomplish"

"Do you remember what I told you as a boy? That one day you would be proving yourself worthy as my heir?" Eli nodded at this

"This is that chance you need, the blood of the ancient kings runs through your veins, it is what gives you your strength and it is what will let you accomplish this mission" the Emperor said

"Do you really think I can do this father?" Eli asked

"You've grown so much from that little child you were all those decades ago, your body has grown to that of a mighty warrior and your skill matches that of the warriors of old, the one thing you have yet to do is to realise what you are capable of, I believe in you my son" the Emperor said as his son smiled and raised a fist.

The Emperor smiled and bumped fists with his son as Eli realized that he had to do this to prove himself to his father.

* * *

Rezeal had already readied the ship for flight; this ship was an Elite cruiser and was built for more than just two crew members, though two pilots were enough for this mission. Eli sat in the second pilot's seat and strapped himself in.

"So what was that all about?" Rezeal asked

"Oh nothing just a little prep talk" Eli replied as he flicked a few switched and typed the coordinates into the Navigator unit.

"Ready for this my friend?" Eli asked

"Do kamads have tails?" Rezeal replied with a smirk

"LET'S DO THIS!" Eli and Rezeal roared as they pulled a lever causing the ship to shoot into the sky at such high speeds it let out a sonic boom sound.

The human race was in for a big surprise.

* * *

Kamad translations/definitions:

LarGuar – a giant flying reptilian, name translates to 'mountain eater'

RaaLtrak – a giant reptilian mammoth-like creature, name translates to 'four tusks'

KreeVans – reptilian quadrupeds, kamad equivalent of horses

Fra'lk – sh*t

So what did you guys think? Did you like the characters? What do you think could have been better? Did you like how I introduced Eli as a child first and then put the time skip in?

Please be sure to leave a review and tell me what you thought.

Next time: chapter 2: the Researcher.


	3. Chapter 2: the Researcher

Asclepheus chapter 2: The Researcher

* * *

Human year: 2180

Location: Earth

"Daddy are we alone?" a little girl asked her father

"What was that Norma?" her father asked

"Are we alone?"

"….well there isn't anyone else here sweetie" her father said looking around the lake

"I mean in the universe, as in aliens and stuff"

"You know the answer to that sweetie" the father said a little bit disturbed at how his 8 year old daughter acted and spoke like someone twice her age

Norma was a little human girl with brown hair in a ponytail, her father had taken her fishing and it was getting very late, what caused her to ask the question was the fact that it was clear night sky out and the stars were shining like jewels in the night's sky. Norma was indeed a strange little girl, while many girls her age were playing with dolls she was making volatile chemicals with her chemistry set.

Norma's father was single due to the fact Norma's mother died during childbirth, just because Norma was smarter than most girls her age didn't mean she wasn't as emotional as other girls, Norma loved her father and he loved her.

"Got a bite yet sweetie?" her father asked

"No I haven't got anything yet" Norma pouted as she hadn't had any luck

"Really? Not even a little yank?"

"Nothing"

"….wait….did you remember to put the bait on the line?" her father asked only to have her face go bright red, her father grin and put down his fishing rod, he then got up and sat beside her.

"Here let me fix that for you dear" Norma's father said as he took her fishing rod and began to fiddle with the bait.

"Daddy I don't think the bait will work"

"Why is that honey?"

"Because the average trout's diet consists of shrimps, mealworms and fish a third of their size, i don't think pieces of chicken fillet will attract them" Norma said without missing a beat

Norma's father sighed and finished fixing the bait on the hook of the rod; he then threw the hook into the water and held onto the rod as did his daughter.

"There's more to life than statistics and facts Norma, sometimes you just have to go with your gut"

Norma simply sat silent until she felt something pull the line; she immediately reacted and gripped the rod tight as the surface of the water began splashing wildly, her father gripped the rod as well and began reeling in the line, leaving pauses in order to properly reel in the thrashing fish.

"Hold on tight honey, he's a big one!" her father laughed

Norma began laughing as they reeled the fish in closer until it was hanging in front of them while still thrashing around splashing water all over them.

"Whoa you caught a pike!" her father exclaimed, it was indeed a very big fish and was thrashing back and forth with the hook in its mouth.

"See honey, you got to go with your gut" her father said

The Pike then bit down on the fishing line and snapped it falling back into the lake causing water to splash on Norma and her father soaking the both of them, Norma and her father then burst out laughing as Norma's father hugged her from behind.

* * *

Norma and her father were now back on land and were sitting side by side in the back of their truck on a nearby hilltop, Norma had a towel wrapped around her, her father was hugging her from behind while the both of them watched the city in the distance as ships flew around as bright lights shone from the mega city's sky scrapers, these sky scrapers made the buildings of the 21st century look like straw huts due their size and grandeur.

"Daddy can I ask you something?" Norma asked her father

"You can ask me anything sweetie" her father said

"Do you think I'll be able to go out there?" Norma asked pointing at the stars, nowadays the only people who left into space where either space truckers, rich, colonists or soldiers so hoping to see the universe wasn't impossible it was just extremely unlikely for people like Norma who were born on earth.

"I won't lie to you Norma, but the only way you are going to get up there is if you work to the best of your ability and use your gifts"

"What are my gifts daddy?"

"Norma my girl, you are the smartest 8 year old I have ever met, given time you could very well become one of the smartest people on the planet, hell maybe even the smartest human in the galaxy" he thought he was over stretching there but to be honest he could have very well been right, though what parent wouldn't fill their child's head with hope?

"Really daddy?" Norma asked with hope evident in her eyes

"I'm sure of it sweetheart, but you have to promise me one thing"

"What daddy?"

"Promise me that if you end up going out there in space, you won't just think with this" her father put a finger on her forehead "but with this as well" he placed his finger on her chest where her heart was.

"Your acting cheesy again daddy" Norma said earning a chuckle from her father

"Come here you!" her father said as he began tickling her causing her to laugh uncontrollably as the two rolled around in the back of the truck underneath the night sky.

* * *

**TIMESKIP: 17 YEARS LATER**

**HUMAN YEAR: 2197**

I had been 10 years since the Asclepheus ship had begun to undergo reconstruction and it was now complete and ready for its long mission in space, the crew of engineers had already boarded the colossal ship and began to ready its main systems. The entire human race was abuzz with the christening of the ship to be broadcasted to not just earth but all the major colonies as well; indeed it was a good day to be a human.

"Professor! Professor Wait!" a young blonde woman with an American accent shouted as she ran through the hallway of the laboratory.

The young woman stopped as she caught up to another woman, this woman was a little taller than her and her hair was brown with blonde streaks in a ponytail, she was also wearing a lab coat and a set of high heels.

"What is it Sophie?" the taller woman asked in a British accent

"Professor Rockwell, the shuttle will be leaving soon" Sophie panted as she clutched a folder to her chest.

"I know that Sophie, but I'm not leaving without Dexter" the taller woman said as she opened the door to her room, she stepped in and before turning the lights on she turned to Sophie.

"And I've told you to stop with the whole professor Rockwell thing, there isn't any need to act so formal with me" the woman said as she turned on the lights in her room and began looking around the place

Sophie sighed and rubbed her temples "Norma the shuttle will leave very soon, we don't have time to be looking for your pet" Sophie said

"We are going to be stuck in space for god knows how long with no one but marines, engineers and aliens for company, I'm not leaving without Dexter" as if on cue something leapt out from under the covers of a bed and clung to Sophie's face causing her to drop her folder and scream.

Norma immediately turned and saw Dexter clinging to Sophie's face without any signs of letting go; Norma patiently walked over and put her hands on her hips.

"Ahem" she spoke out

Dexter immediately leapt from Sophie's face into Norma's arms, Dexter was a bio-pet, a genetically engineered hybrid of two of Norma's favourite earth animals, Bio-pets were very popular nowadays and were more popular than most of the traditional earth pets. Dexter was a hybrid of a capuchin monkey and a parrot, he was basically like one of the winged monkeys from the wizard of Oz which coincidently was one of Norma's favourite movies, Norma was going to be dammed if Dexter wasn't coming with her, she loved her baby to pieces, Sophie on the other hand wasn't a big fan.

"For god's sake I hate it when he does that!" Sophie pointed at the evil primate

"Don't blame Dexter, you scared him" Norma stroked her winged monkey as he let out a few quit screeches.

"I scared him!? That filthy little monkey almost gave me a heart attack!" Sophie shouted before picking up her folder and dusting it off.

"You both scared each other so let's leave it at that ok?" Norma said calmly as she let Dexter perch himself on her shoulder.

"Now you said we have a shuttle to get to, I say we get going" Norma sad just as calmly as she walked past Sophie, but as she walked past Sophie, Dexter stuck his tongue out at her to which Sophie replied by giving him the finger.

* * *

After plenty of running they finally came to the docking bay where there were still a few shuttles that hadn't left yet, one of which was Norma and Sophie's and at the door a brown haired man who looked like he was in his late 40's was waiting.

Norma made eye contact with this man and immediately ran up and threw her arms around him hugging him tightly.

"Dad, you came!" she exclaimed

"Well I had to see you off didn't I? Plus you will be in space for the next few years so this will be my last time seeing you for a while sweetie" her father hugged her back gently

Dexter then gave out a little screech gaining Norma's father's attention; he smiled and rubbed the monkey's head.

"You take care of her out there Dex"

"Hello Mr Rockwell" Sophie said as she walked up to Norma's father

"It's good to see you Sophie" Mr Rockwell held out his hand which Sophie shook.

"Professor Ro….Norma we have to get on board now" Sophie said as she began walking up the shuttle ramp.

"Ok dad I guess this is it….goodbye" Norma said as she turned to the ramp

"Norma wait" Mr Rockwell called his daughter

"Yes dad?"

"I have something to give you" he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace

"This was your mother's…..she would want you to have it" he tied the necklace around her neck, Norma held the necklace in her hands, attached to the necklace was a ring, it was her mother wedding ring and it was identical to her father's.

"Dad I…I don't know what…what to say" Norma said

"I love you would suffice" her father smiled, Norma threw her arms around her father and hugged him tightly.

"I love you dad" she said before letting go and turning to go up the ramp to the shuttle, when she got in the shuttle she got a seat next to a window and waved her father goodbye as the shuttle took off.

"Goodbye Norma…..stay safe" Norma's father said as he waved at the shuttle flying into the sky.

* * *

The shuttle flew through the air alongside many others on its way to the Asclepheus; there were at least 20-30 shuttles soaring through the vacuum of space, it was evident by this that the Asclepheus was going to be a ship of enormous scale due to the sheer amount of shuttles needed to transport the crew.

As the shuttles made their way across mars the Asclepheus came into view and needless to say it was a sight to behold, the ship obviously had traits of both human design and alien design as during the reconstruction the alien parts were better suited than the human parts that were simply replacements for missing segments, the ship was massive and its length was at least three halves worth of the moon.

The ship's streamlined appearance gave a sense that it was meant for deep space exploration as the largest of humanity's ships went by the same standards, the thrusters of the ship were massive to say the least and it wasn't a surprise as it would take immense power to get the ship moving.

Both the USS Quatermaine and the USS Newton were by both sides of the ship and were dwarfed by its immense size, though the human made battleships weren't even a quarter of the Asclepheus' size even when combined they still had enough fire power to defend the ship against many different threats.

"All systems operational captain" said one of the Quatermaine's pilots spoke out as he tapped controls into the screen in front of him. Behind him in the captains seat was a man with an Englishman of African descent in his mid-50's, though he still commanded a powerful presence along with a broad frame. This was captain Nathanial Grey, the captain of the USS Quatermaine and veteran of the yautja wars. one of the captains key defining traits was his eyes, his natural left eye was brown while his right was blue with a glowing tint along with the scar running across his right eye socket, in the yautja wars he lost an eye in a fight against a Yautja Elder who took it out with a swipe of his glaive, he may of lost an eye but he managed to take off said Elders left arm in return, his right eye was now cybernetic and to be honest his vision couldn't be better.

"Very good, Captain Azarov do you copy?" Captain grey said into his comlink

"I copy Captain Grey, all systems on the Newton are operational as well" Captain Azarov said with a Russian accent.

Cynthia Azarov was a woman in her mid-20's and was considered somewhat of a prodigy, becoming the captain of a human battleship and sent on a mission of this importance was something to be admired and for a woman of her age and background was a great achievement. She was at least 5 foot and had short blond hair; her pretty appearance didn't do anything to undermine her commanding presence among her troops and in fact her troops would follow her to the end.

* * *

Norma had just entered her living quarters for the next few years, it was a fairly roomy bedroom with a large bed and a monkey cage for Dexter, obviously the rooms had been tailored to the requirements of the crew especially the researchers. For Norma this was true to the fullest as she was probably one of the most important people on board, being one of the chief researchers was going to be tough on this project, mind you she was exited for the task of caring and studying all the alien life they would pick up on this mission.

"Well Dex I guess this is the first step in our new life" Norma smiled earning a happy screech from Dex as he jumped up and down on the spot.

Indeed it the start of a new life…a new and very eventful, strange life. Norma just didn't know how strange and new things were going to get…yet.

* * *

Phew that was one difficult chapter to write, I don't think I'm very good writing for female characters so I would appreciate it if I got some feedback soon, what did you guys think I could improve? What would you like to see in this story?

Next chapter will be the introduction of the Myrmidons and the next protagonist of the story.

I will need some feedback eventually people, be it positive or negative I need some to get me motivated to keep writing especially since I'm back at college and am managing my time between this and studying. So Please be sure to leave a review or simply a comment or two as long as it is civil, that means NO TROLL'S!

Next time – chapter 3: We are lions among men.


	4. Chapter 3: We Are Lions Among Men

Well dudes and dudettes, here is chapter 3 of Asclepheus and let me tell you this one is a doozy, it's got plenty of bullets, blades, guts, blood, swearing….you know….the good stuff.

I have also left out the childhood of our main character in this chapter because I plan on using it later for future development.

* * *

Chapter 3: We are lions among men

**Human year: 2199 AD**

**Location: Planet Hermes**

"One shot, I bet you I can make it in one shot" said an African man with a Kenyan accent holding a pulse rifle

The man he was talking to simply squinted to look at the lit candle about 50 yards away and smiled

"What were the wagers again?" asked the man with a Russian accent

"If I get the shot you have to say 'nuclear vessels'"

"And if I get the shot?" the big Russian asked

"I don't know…you get to use me as a human punching bag" at this the Russian grinned ear to ear

"Alright…deal" the Russian said standing back as the African man leaned into his pulse rifle and waited, he checked for wind direction and temperature before taking his shot, but just before he pulled the trigger the Russian leaned into his ear and whispered sharply

"Don't flinch" this caused the African to pull the trigger too soon and miss the candle completely.

"Dam it! That doesn't count!" the African shouted as the Russian laughed and patted him on the back.

"My turn, you take a shot, now I take a shot" the Russian said as he went to pick up his weapon

"Oh now that's just cheating man!" the African said as the Russian hefted a rocket launcher onto his shoulder and took aim

"You never specified what we would shoot with" the Russian said he pulled the trigger, a rocket shot out of the launcher and headed toward the target only to explode halfway to the candle.

"What the?" the Russian asked as he and the African turned to see the culprit responsible for the early detonation.

There stood their commanding officer holding a pulse revolver, Major Erik Reaver of the Myrmidons. Erik by human standards was tall standing at 6 foot 5; he had short brown hair and striking blue eyes. At the moment he was wearing what was as close to casual wear he could get, a set of black fatigues and a black vest, myrmidons usually wore all black due to their 'relationship' with the Xenomorphs.

"Vlad, Baako, what are you two doing?" Erik asked with a British accent as he holstered his revolver.

"Baako wanted to prove he was the better shot sir, I wanted to prove otherwise" Vlad said, Vlad Gurasov was a very large Russian standing at 7 foot with big bulging muscles and a black Mane of hair, his arms were adorned with tattoos and the other myrmidons nickname for him was 'blood letter' marines would think this was because of his first name but the real reason for it was that he was a gore machine in battle with a taste in large full automatic weapons.

"What Dracula means is that we were just playing a little game, and he cheated by using a rocket launcher" Baako Okoye was around the same height as Erik and was a very close friend of his, he had chocolate coloured skin, black hair and a crescent scar under his left eye. His nickname by the other Myrmidons was 'Spectre' due to his great skills in stealth and espionage.

"Really, well both stories say one thing to me; you were up and were wasting ammunition in a stupid little game. Do you have any idea how childish that sounds?" Erik said with an angry tone before his stoic face turned into a smirk

"This is how you shoot a target" Erik said as he quickly drew his pulse revolver and shot the candle off in the distance causing it to burst into little pieces.

"Class dismissed" Erik grinned before walking off to his quarters, he and his team had a mission in the morning and he needed all the rest he could get.

"….go on say it" Baako asked Vlad, Vlad simply sighed and decided to at least humour him.

"Nuclear wessals" he said with his thick Russian accent causing Baako to laugh out loud at the mispronunciation of the word.

* * *

"COME ON LADIES GET YOUR GEAR ON!" Erik shouted to the other Myrmidons as they adorned their armour and equipment, the armour of a Myrmidon looked like a more advanced version of an ancient Greek hoplite, the Corinthian helms they wore had had shielded visors where the spaces would be, the spaces that would be unprotected in a hoplite's armour such as the thighs and bicep areas where covered in a bio-engineered latex material, they wore boots in place of sandals and gauntlets covering their hands and forearms, the armoured suits were entirely black while the visor's were red.

The armour of a Myrmidon was specially designed so that it was immune to the acidic effects of the blood of a Xenomorph, of course only Myrmidons themselves could wear the armour as it was too heavy for any normal human to move around in, this didn't stop the Myrmidons however as they were too strong and fast to be weighed down by it. The special compound used to forge their armour was made from the same strange elements the yautja used in their weapons.

All the myrmidons had specially designed armour to fit their purposes, for instance Vlad's armour was a lot more bulky while Baako's was lightweight and offered more flexibility. The thing that set Erik's suit apart from the rest was the red headdress on his helm showing his authority to the other Myrmidons.

"Get your arses on that god dam shuttle you pansies!" Erik shouted at the top of his voice as he hefted his pulse rifle, the face plate of his helmet clamped down and the visor lit up red.

The members of the alpha squad were sat in the seats of the shuttle in two rows, on one row were sat; Hanzo Hayashi, a Japanese myrmidon of small stature, Hanzo was probably the most agile of the myrmidons in alpha squad and was a master swordsman in the style of the samurai, his nickname among the others was 'Ronin'. Ramirez Abrantes, the Spanish Myrmidon was probably the best sharpshooter in the squad and his nickname among the squad was 'Archer and the last person on said row was Sasha Azarov, the second Russian on the team was the best hand to hand combatant the team had and she didn't have a nickname due to only having been on the team for a few months.

On the opposite row were Baako, Vlad and the new guy to the team, Alpha squad had recently received a new member. Michael Stratford or the rookie as the team called him had recently joined a week ago, the American was to assist in their newest mission; the mission was a simple break in and not to mention it sounded like child's play. Apparently a few smugglers had managed to get their hands on a stash of Xenomorph eggs and it was Alpha team's job to get in and destroy the eggs.

"Care to give us the brief major?" Hanzo asked Erik who was pacing down the back of the shuttle; the helmets the Myrmidons wore made their voices sound synthetic.

"We got word from command that a group of smugglers has managed to get a hold of an unknown number of Xenomorph eggs and are holding these on the other side of the planet, the shuttle is on its way there now" Erik said in a loud and steady voice

"What are the smugglers packing sir?" Baako asked

"We believe they are relatively well armed, you know the standard pulse rifles, shotguns and maybe some heavy artillery if they are lucky" Erik replied

"Will their sensors pick us up on the way?" Michael asked, the other myrmidons laughed at this comment and Erik put a hand on his shoulder

"Rookie, if their sensors can pick us up, they deserve to catch us" Erik said with a grin behind his helm

Erik then went into the cockpit and leaned into the pilot's side

"Take us in fast and heavy, we want to initiate the rookie in the proper fashion" Erik said to the myrmidon pilot who grinned and kept flicking switches and operating the controls.

Erik then returned into the back of the shuttle and sat in his seat, the group all then began checking their weapons; Vlad had a large pulse minigun with a pair of hand axes holstered in his belt. Baako had a pulse rifle and a set of large serrated knives sheathed all across parts of his armour, Hanzo had a pulse rifle along with a Japanese Katana sword sheathed in his belt, Ramirez had a pulse sniper rifle and a Spanish Rapier, Sasha had a pulse shotgun and a Russian Shashka sword, Michael had a pulse rifle and a cutlass while finally Erik was sat with pulse rifle and a medieval style broadsword.

The Myrmidons weapons were also specially designed to be immune to the acidic effects of Xenomorph blood just like their armour.

"Lady and gentlemen, we are approaching the LZ so you had better get ready to jump" the pilot said over the intercom

"d-did he just say jump?" Michael stuttered

"Drop more like" Hanzo replied

The doors of the shuttle opened and all the myrmidons apart from Michael stood up, Vlad grabbed him by the back of his armour and hoisted him up on his feet.

"DIVE!" Erik shouted his orders to the other myrmidons who quickly obeyed and leapt out of the moving shuttle.

"Welcome to Alpha squad" Vlad whispered to Michael before pushing him out of the shuttle, Vlad followed suite quickly and leapt out after his teammates.

The Myrmidons crashed into the ground leaving small craters where they had landed, Vlad left a larger crater than the others while Michael fell flat on his face; the rookie was unharmed as the armour was built to lockup on impact from large heights.

The other members of Alpha gathered around the crater and looked at the rookie.

"I remember my first drop" Baako was recalling the time he landed on his face all those years ago

"Good times, good times" Ramirez commented

Vlad went into the crater and hoisted a giddy Michael up onto his feet and dusted him off.

"Ok enough fun, the smugglers hideout isn't that far off" Erik said to the other myrmidons as they began the short walk to their destination.

* * *

The group had finally made it to the base; they hid just far enough so the sentries couldn't see them, the darkness of night made it hard to spot them with their black armoured suits.

The base wasn't anything big, hell it didn't have a wall perimeter to keep intruders out '_smugglers are so full of themselves' _Erik thought as he spied the limited amount of patrol guards and sentries on duty.

"Okay then guys here is the plan, Baako, Hanzo you two take out the sentries as quite as you can, Ramirez you take out the artillery operators at a distance, the rest of us take out the guards with extreme prejudice" Erik issued the orders to his troops.

"Sir does that mean me as well?" Michael asked

"You're part of Alpha squad now rookie, I believe in trail by combat, just try and keep up with the rest of us and you will be fine" Erik said reassuringly

"Well people you got your orders….now carry them out" Erik said as the myrmidons set off for their respective objectives while Ramirez set up his sniper rifle.

* * *

Two guards were walking side by side around the base wearing standard marine style armour, they were both holding pulse rifles and had pistols attached to their hips.

"You really think it's safe having those things in the base?" one guard said

"Yeah I do, do you know how much just one of those things is worth on the black market?" the other asked

"No…how much?"

"One egg is around 4 million large"

"Holy shit really?"

"Yeah, and that's just the black market, I'm willing to bet the company would pay a lot more" the guard said to the other, the guard then realized he was walking alone.

"What the…where did?" the guard began until an armoured hand wrapped around his mouth and a knife quickly sliced his throat letting him bleed all over the floor, the Myrmidon who cut his throat let his lifeless body fall to the floor.

"Too bad those eggs won't be around for much longer" Erik said as Vlad appeared from around the corner with the body of the first guard in his hands, Vlad had got a hold of the first guard and snapped his neck while the other was busy running his mouth.

"I wonder how the others are doing." Vlad said dropping the body on the floor, suddenly an alarm rang though the air and both Erik and Vlad groaned simultaneously.

"So much for stealth" Vlad said retrieving the minigun from his back and powering it up.

"To be honest the old ways are the best ways" Erik said cocking his pulse rifle as they prepared for a fight.

* * *

The guards and sentries were all on high alert as the troops came flooding out of all the base entrances.

Two such sentries were trying to get a beat on the attackers until a Myrmidon leapt onto the roof they were standing on and decapitated one and sliced the others legs off. The guards on the roof opened fire on the Myrmidon who returned fire with his pulse rifle, the guards kept firing but didn't notice the Myrmidon behind them who threw several knives at them, one was hit in the back of the head while another was hit in the shoulder and another in the back of the neck.

The one guard left on the roof was then swiftly decapitated by the first Myrmidon who nodded to the second as they set off on the job of taking out any other threats.

Erik and Vlad were busy mowing through troops on the floor level, well it was mostly Vlad as he was firing his minigun at full pelt turning what used to be men into piles of shredded meat. Erik was simply doing what any smart person would do and that was not to stand in his way and watch his back as he shredded through ranks of soldiers.

"Sasha come in, Sasha do you read?" Erik spoke into the radio in his helmet.

"This is Sasha I read" she replied as it sounded like she was engaging troops on her end.

"What's your position and do you have any idea what set off the alarm?" Erik asked

"The rookie and I are at the west end of the base and we are pinned down by artillery, the rookie was sloppy with his kills and the guards were alerted" Sasha sounded annoyed on her end.

"Alright, hold your position, I'll make my way over to you, Ramirez can you provide some cover fire?"

"Is that a trick question sir?" Ramirez chuckled over the radio as he shot a sniper round into a nearby gunner blowing his head clean off.

"Vlad I'm going to help Sasha and the rookie, are you okay by yourself?" Erik shouted over the minigun fire.

"Da Major, I can hold these rats off by myself" Vlad chuckled as he mowed through the troops.

Erik then broke into a sprint across through the base, due to the enhancements project Ares gave him, he was running just as fast as an Olympic sprinter and wasn't even tiring, many sentries would have got a shot at him if Ramirez hadn't shot them first, Ramirez's near superhuman reactions coupled with his great eyesight and Aim meant he could kill twice as many men any expert sniper could in half the time.

Erik finally got to Sasha's location and saw that she and the rookie were indeed pinned down and under heavy fire. There were two guys in particular who had military issue smart guns and were unloading on the piece of cover the two myrmidons had taken.

Erik reloaded his pulse rifle and one handed it in his left hand while he unsheathed his broadsword with his right hand and ran into action, two troops saw this and tried to fire at him but their reactions were two slow and by the time they pulled the triggers he had decapitated one and sliced the other in half below the waist, he pulled the trigger of his pulse rifle and shot a sniper who was taking pot shots at Sasha in the head.

Ramirez was taking shots at the troops who had spotted Erik and needless to say they fell easily with a bullet in the head or crotch, now the pressure had been taken off of Sasha she leapt over the cover she was at and ran at a group of soldiers whom were about to open fire on Erik, she fired a shot with her shotgun blowing a hole in one of their chests, the others turned but were too late as she was too close for them to do any damage in close range. She grabbed one's head and gave it a violent twist breaking his neck, she ploughed her fist into the other ones face breaking through his skull, she then swept the legs from under the last guy and curb stomped his face in.

Erik made his way to the Smart gunners and holstered his pulse rifle and wielded his broadsword in both hands for maximum efficiency, the first gunner turned just in time to point his smart gun at Erik who swiped his sword at the gun and sliced the upper segment off of it, he then drove his sword into the gunners gut and used him as a shield against the other gunner who unloaded his clip into the back of his ally.

"And here I was thinking you blokes would be smarter than this" Erik said as the gunner ran out of ammo, Erik took his sword out of the other gunners gut and threw him to the ground. Erik then slowly made his way over to the other smart gunner and held his broadsword in both hands in front of his face (Aragorn style).

"You know what the worst thing about a smart gun is?" Erik asked as the gunner was trying to load another clip into the smart gun only to have the clip get jammed.

"The worst thing…is the fact that the loading mechanism jams when you are in a hurry" Erik said as he swung his sword decapitating the Gunner in a clean swipe.

"Heads up" Erik said

"Booooo" Sasha called at her commander's awful pun

Michael emerged from cover with his head held low; he was ashamed that he managed to blow the operation with his incompetence.

"YOU! IT'S YOUR FAULT WE'RE IN THIS MESS! YOU ALMOST GOT US KILLED!" Sasha shouted at Michael, Erik then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down Sasha" Erik said

"CALM DOWN?! WE ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF THIS ASSHOLE!" Sasha continued to bellow

"It's not his fault, it's his first mission so he is bound to make some mistakes" Erik reasoned with her

"I never made a mistake like that on my first mission with you, he has no excuse" Sasha said with a lower yet still aggressive tone.

"Do I have to pull rank on you lieutenant? He made a mistake and we found a way through it, and that's the end of it" Erik said a little bit of force in his voice.

Sasha realized that the Major knew best in this matter; after all he was the commanding officer and had never once led alpha squad astray, it was best to let Erik call the shots.

"Yes sir" Sasha said after a long sigh

"Good now let's see how the others are doing on their end" Erik said as both him the rookie and Sasha began making their way back to the group.

* * *

Baako had just finished gutting a group of troops and came to see Vlad standing still looking up at one particular building with soldiers firing down on him and missing terribly.

Baako stopped by his side and saw blood trickling down Vlad's arm.

"Son of a bitch is dug in like a tick" Vlad said with his eyes fixed upwards.

"You're bleeding Vlad" Baako alerted his teammate who didn't break his gaze

"I don't have time to bleed" Vlad said

"Ok then" Baako said as he unclipped a grenade from his belt and hurled it upwards, Baako then got his back up against the wall.

"Do you have time to duck?" Baako asked as the Russian got beside him, an explosion from the grenade caused small pieces of rock and flesh to fall on the two of them.

"Show off" Vlad commented causing Baako to chuckle.

* * *

The Myrmidons had now managed to clear out the majority of the forces with minimal injuries and relative ease, Vlad had taken great joy in using his minigun to its full extent and Hanzo rarely got the chance to show off his sword skills this much.

They had managed to kill off all but three of the smugglers, as it seemed that guarding the chamber holding the eggs was a large vault door that seemed like it needed an access code to open. That is precisely the reason why the three surviving smugglers were tied up in chairs beside each other.

"Now how are we going to handle this?" Ramirez said leaning his hands on his rifle.

"I got an idea" Erik said as he pulled up a chair in front of the first smuggler and sat down.

"Now I got a proposal in mind for you three, you give us the access code and we won't kill you like we did your scumbag friends"

"You must think we're fucking retards if you think we're going to give you that code" the first smuggler with a bloody nose said

"The money we get for those things will set us up for life" the second one said

"Good luck spending that money without a head" Hanzo spoke up gripping the hilt of his katana.

"Sorry about this…Vlad try your technique" Erik told the big Russian

Vlad sat in Erik's place and took one of the smugglers hands in his armoured hands.

"Oh what? You're going to hold my hand, I'm really fucking scared" the smuggler said

Vlad then took one of the smugglers fingers and snapped it sharply in the opposite direction of where it should have been pointing.

"AAAGAHGAHGH! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! AAAAAGH" the smuggler screamed as his finger was now showing bone.

"Feel like talking?" Vlad asked with his deep synthetic voice

"Nnngg…go to hell Shitface!" the smuggler managed to get out

"Alright then, thumbs next" the Russian myrmidons grabbed the smugglers thumb and twisted it around; with a sickening CRACK he had obviously broken the smugglers thumb causing him to scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHGHGH! ILL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the smuggler shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I'll tell you the code, just don't kill me" the third smuggler spoke up

"What the hell are you doing you fucking coward?!" the second smuggler asked with gritted teeth

"I don't want to get my fingers torn off you crazy son of a bitch!" the smuggler shouted back

Erik got right in front of the third smugglers face and stared at him through his red visor.

"I knew that at least one of you would co-operate" Erik said in a synthetic voice

"The code is 7660325" the smuggler said, Erik turned to Baako who began typing in the code to the door. The door then began to slide across and it was revealed that the door was at least 7feet thick and no amount of explosives the team had would have been able to open it, once the door opened they saw what they had come looking for.

"I think we hit the jackpot" Hanzo said as the team saw a whole room that was wall to wall with Xenomorph eggs, there were at least a hundred of them, more than enough to be a threat to the human race, even one Xenomorph egg could start a chain reaction causing the death of a planet.

"You boys have been naughty, where did you get this many?" Sasha asked the smuggler who was less tight mouthed than the others.

"We didn't find them"

"Bullshit, you can't just buy them at a store" Baako said

"I'm not lying; some guy gave them to us"

"Really...what did he look like?" this got Erik's attention

"I don't know, he wore a lot of black and kept his face covered"

"Did he now...i don't buy it, he must have had some identifiable qualities" Erik asked

"Well now that you mention it, he was pretty tall, at the very least 7 foot 5"

"Thank you for your co-operation" Vlad said before knocking the smugglers out by landing a forceful blow to the backs of their heads.

The myrmidons spent the next few minutes setting explosive charges in the egg room, they made sure to be careful not to wake any of the eggs up, the small veins that were on the bases acted as sensors to tell if a host was in close proximity.

All the charges were set and the door was once again closed, the myrmidons took off their helmets, Baako had the detonator in hand and seemed to have an itchy trigger finger at this point, Erik was quick to intercept though.

"Baako, I think the rookie should have the honours of first detonation" Erik said to Baako who smiled and handed the detonator to the rookie.

Michael took the detonator with a smile; the other Myrmidons had smiles on their faces except for Sasha who still hadn't forgotten the mess he got them into earlier. Michael had finally got a good look at some of the others faces, Hanzo had black hair in a traditional Japanese top knot, and he also had a finely trimmed goatee. Ramirez had light short greyish hair and a finely trimmed grey goatee and Sasha had shoulder length blonde hair with bright blue eyes.

Michael was already familiar with what Baako, Vlad and the Major looked like as they were the ones who had welcomed him to the team. He held the detonator in his hands and pushed the button, from behind the door came a very loud and very sudden sound of the charges going off followed by the distinct sound of hissing, apparently the acidic blood of the face huggers was eating away at the door but not enough to get all the way through.

Baako slapped the rookie on the back and said while chuckling "consider that your first kill my friend"

"Oh come on Baako that doesn't count, the first kill has to be an actual Xeno" Ramirez said

Baako and Ramirez began arguing over the technicalities of a first kill while Michael went up to Erik.

"Uum sir?"

"What is it rookie?"

"I'm sorry for screwing up the mission"

"Don't worry about it; everyone makes mistakes on their first ride"

"But Sasha said that…"

"Don't mind her, Sasha has the biggest temper of all of us, plus I remember on several occasions she screwed up on a mission"

"Really?"

"Yeah, we have all screwed up at least once on a mission, even yours truly"

"YOU screwed up once sir?"

"Yeah so don't beat yourself up about it, we may be super soldiers but no one is perfect"

The team then proceeded to clean up their mess before departing to the pickup zone, the mission had gone off without a hitch, more or less, but now came the thing Erik hated the most about his job….the report.

* * *

"_How did the mission go major?" _asked the general of the myrmidon military division by holograph.

"It went as well as it could have gone sir" Erik said

"_What do you mean by that major?" _the general asked

"It has to do with the rookie, Michael Stratford; he set off an alarm during the stealth section of the mission, may I ask what division developed his enhancements sir?"

"_I thought this may be an issue, private Stratford's enhancements were performed by Weyland-Yutani, and apparently they did this as a gesture of good faith"_

"Weyland - Yutani? Since when did they play friendly with us?"

"_Mr Weyland came to me in person and told me they had developed a new myrmidon strain, one that produced much better results than the one we use now, he also said that there may be problems on the first few missions, but after the strains user has adapted to it, it would certainly work wonders" _

"Well that remains to be seen yet sir, what am I supposed to do about the rookie?"

"_Keep a close eye on him major; see how his performance changes, if you spot anything irregular about him report back to me, is that understood?" _

"Sir Yes sir" Erik saluted the large hologram as it faded out.

Erik sat in his quarters and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"I can tell that he is going to be a joy to work with" Erik sighed as he raised the glass to his lips and took a sip.

* * *

Michael was wearing his casual wear and was feeling pretty good about himself as he walked down the hallway of the barracks, suddenly someone pinned him against the wall and had their forearm against his throat. It was Sasha and she had a furious look in her eyes that put a chill down Michael's spine.

"You may have everyone else fooled, but not me, I don't care who you were back in the world. But if you put us in a situation like that again, ill bleed you, real quiet and leave you there…..you got that?!" Sasha whispered menacingly, Michael couldn't speak due to the large woman's forearm pressed against his throat so all he could do as nod.

Sasha then let go of him and stared down at him as he spluttered on the floor

"I'll be watching you" Sasha said with venom in her voice before walking away to her quarters.

Things had just gotten interesting for Alpha team, and believe it or not, things were going to get stranger…way stranger.

* * *

WOOOOOOOOOOOO there we go people only one more introduction chapter to go, and yeah there were a hell of a lot of references in this chapter that I just couldn't resist to put in.

Just to make it clear for people who read this and can't figure it out, the main character I introduced was Erik and not Michael.

Tell me what you guys thought

Who was your favourite Myrmidon?

What did you like about this chapter?

What will it take for some of you to leave a review?

Please leave a review or maybe a few comments about what you thought, and just a fair warning it may take me longer to get the next chapter up as I will be working on catching up on my Marvel fanfic

Next time – Chapter 4: A Huntress in the Night


	5. Chapter 4: A Huntress in the Night

HERE WE ARE LADIES AND GENTS WITH THE FINAL INTRODUCTION CHAPTER!

It's taken a lot of blood, sweat, tears and certain other bodily fluids that I won't delve into to write this chapter and make it work.

Enjoy and be sure to leave a review.

* * *

Chapter 4: A Huntress in the Night

**Human year: 2198 AD**

**Location: Karbanthia (alien planet)**

Three male aliens were sprinting through the jungle making sure that whatever was hunting them couldn't catch up…hopefully.

The three humanoid aliens were wearing battle armour and wielded what looked like old earth assault rifles with a slightly different design, they finally came to stop at an opening in the jungle as they were out of breath and couldn't run further, one of the aliens took off his helmet to reveal a very hairy ape like face with two large tusks coming from his lower jaw.

"What the hell was that?" the alien said in a deep gravelly voice as the other two proceeded to remove their helmets.

"I think it was one of those demons in the stories" another younger alien said

"Don't be stupid Thrak; those are just bedtime stories to scare little children" the third alien who was obviously the eldest due to his greyish hair and larger tusks.

"Whatever the hell that was killed two of our best men without them even seeing it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a demon" the second alien said

"Demon's? That's a bullshit Psych job; there are two or three men out there at the most, fucking demons" the eldest said with annoyance in his voice.

"No matter what that was it still killed Thran and Thrall, now we have to get moving or…" the alien almost finished until a blue ball of plasma blew his head clean off causing chunks of brain and skull to fly all over the place leaving nothing but a blue bloody stain in its place as the headless body fell to the floor like a ragdoll.

"SHIT RUUUN!" the Elder of the two aliens shouted, the two aliens ran as fast as they could as a cloaked figure leapt from tree branch to tree branch above them.

The two aliens kept running but the younger of the two began lagging behind the further they got, a net suddenly shot out from the tree tops and wrapped around the younger alien, entangling him in an instant.

"AAAAAGH THRATH HELP!" the younger alien shouted as the net got tighter and tighter, the Elder alien stopped for a moment and looked at him, he then turned tail and ran as fast as he could through the foliage leaving the younger alien behind.

"THRATH WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! DON'T LEAVE ME!" the younger alien shouted as his ally disappeared into the jungle, the younger alien then felt the net stop tightening and the sound of something landing beside him.

The sound of footsteps got louder until the figure was standing right in front of him, it was strange looking at it as it seemed like it was there but at the same time wasn't. The figure uncloaked and revealed itself, the creature stood at least 6 foot 5 and had light green skin with darker green stripes adorning its figure, speaking of which its figure gave it away as being female as it had a very nice looking hourglass figure. The creature wore segments of armour covering the necessary areas and had long black dreadlocks decorated with gold rings, the creature wore a mask hiding its face and had three red lights pointing at the aliens head at all times.

This creature was a Yautja….an intergalactic trophy hunter, this particular Yautja was a huntress which spelt bad news for the Aliens as the females of the Yautja race were the more dangerous of the sexes.

The Yautja then crouched down and grabbed the aliens head and roughly jerked it up so as to get a good look at its face, the huntress turned the aliens head to the left then the right before growling in disappointment. The Huntress then swiftly knocked the alien out, she then undid the net and turned to where the other alien had run off to.

The hunt wasn't finished yet, not by a long shot.

* * *

'_Dam it dam it dam it, why couldn't that little shit just keep up? Then my chances of survival wouldn't be so crap right now'_ the alien thought as he ran through the jungle by himself.

The Alien then came to a dead end on the end of a fallen tree dangling over the edge of a cliff; the Alien then cocked his assault rifle and began firing it wildly into the forest behind him.

"DAM IT! COME OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YOU COWARD!" the alien screamed at the top of his lungs.

The Yautja uncloaked a few feet in front of him at the other end of the log, he raised his rifle at the Yautja and pulled the trigger only to find that he had spent the last magazine firing into the jungle. The Yautja waved her finger in a 'uh uh uh' fashion, the alien threw his rifle away and drew a serrated knife from his belt.

"Come on, get a taste" the Alien said, the huntress slowly walked towards the alien who charged at the Yautja and swung his knife at her, the huntress not only dodged the blow but also picked him up above her head and brought his stomach down on her knee, the Alien felt his insides shift and coughed up a mouthful of blood before falling to the floor.

The Yautja backed off and drew her wrist blades and awaited the alien to get to his feet, she was going to have fun with this kill, the Alien got to his feet and ran at the huntress again but instead of swinging his blade blindly he tried to play his strikes more intelligently.

The huntress dodged his blows easily, the Alien was at least a foot taller than her and she was using this to her advantage as her smaller frame was harder to land a strike on, he then tried to stab her but she grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder like a ragdoll.

'Dam it how can she be this strong?' the Alien thought, he stood up and spat a mouthful of blood away.

The Huntress gave a 'bring it' gesture as she awaited her opponent's next move, the Alien knew he wasn't going to survive if this fight drew on any longer, he threw his knife at her and ran as fast as he could in desperation.

The Huntress dodged the feeble knife throw and decided to end this quickly before she got bored, she fired her wrist blades at the fleeing alien, and the wrist blades hit the alien in the shoulder causing him to fall to the floor.

The Huntress slowly made her way over to the still live Alien and put a foot on his back keeping him on the floor, she leaned down and tore off a chunk of armour from the base of his back, the alien grunted as he tried to get her off of him to no avail, the huntress then rammed her hand into the base of the aliens back and grabbed the base of his spine tightly.

' _got you' _she thought as she got a good hold of the spine before yanking it from the Aliens back along with his skull, she raised the skull and spinal cord in the air and let out a triumphant roar that echoed through the mountain ranges of the jungle.

* * *

Things were turning out well for the huntress as she returned to her ship, within a few days she had already got a few worthy trophies; she had claimed at least 4 Karbanthian skulls and they were all of strong males.

The Huntress hung the trophies up on a rack so that she could properly clean them up later, she proceeded to remove her armour and weapons and place them in their respective cabinets.

The Huntress then removed her mask and revealed her face; she had pearly white tusks and green eyes that gleamed like emeralds, by her race's standards she would be considered an absolute stunner in terms of looks, though the one thing that held her back from being the perfect female was her height.

Most Yautja females were either the same height as the males or were even taller, the reason that she was so short was because she had a birth defect that caused her to be smaller than other females, and this wasn't by any means like dwarfism because her limbs were perfectly proportioned with the rest of her, she was simply…..shorter and in the eyes of some Yautja that was quite unattractive.

This didn't get her spirits down however as her height meant she could easily out manoeuvre enemies that most Yautja couldn't, she was also way faster and more agile than most hunters yet still had the strength that was expected from a yautja.

She sat down in the cockpit of the ship and let out a long sigh.

"That was far too easy….it's getting harder and harder to find challenging prey" the huntress said, ever since the wars with the humans it was getting increasingly difficult for yautja to find prey worth hunting, the Karbanthians were the latest in the long line of replacements for the humans, but none of the new races were a suitable enough to be considered worthy of replacing them.

The Karbanthians may have been strong and intelligent but they lacked that certain flare that the humans had, that little spark that helped the human's sometime triumph over the hunters and give them an honourable death. As a matter of fact not very many species had that human flare that made them such challenging and fierce opponents, perhaps it was this flare that drove the humans to rise up against the Yautja and put a stop to the mass hunting of their race.

"_Huntress Sha'ra, a message has been sent to your local memory core, do you wish for me to play the message_?" the ship's Ai asked her in a synthetic voice.

"Play the message" Sha'ra ordered, as the Ai confirmed the order a holographic image of a Yautja male in ornate robes and armour appeared in front of her.

"Huntress Sha'ra this is a message from the Ka'maris clanship, you are to return as soon as possible, Elder Zen'tau requests your presence" the holographic Yautja said before it disappeared back into the ships holographic projector.

"Computer, set a course for the clanship, I'll be resting in my quarters so wake me up when we get there" Sha'ra ordered the ship as the computer got to work.

Sha'ra walked back to her quarters; it was going to take a little while for the ship to reach its destination and she was feeling a little too tired to stay awake the entire time so she might as well get some rest.

* * *

"Mistress, we have arrived at the clanship, would you mind awakening?" the computer said as Sha'ra rubbed her eyes and rose from her bed.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Approximately 4 hour's mistress"

"Well…..we got here fast" she said as she made her way to the cockpit

Sha'ra hadn't been at the clanship for at least 2 weeks, though when a hunter left the clanship they wouldn't get called back for at least a month or two, so whatever possessed the Elders to call her back had to be of significant importance.

Once she was within range of the ship a live hologram appeared from the projector, it was of a male hunter who was very well armoured; it was obviously an honoured elite due to the ornate design of his armour.

"Huntress Sha'ra we require your access code" the holograph said

Sha'ra was quick to type in her code, at this point in time it was getting more and more common for Black Yautja to highjack Yautja vessels in order to infiltrate clanships, the blood feud between the two races had raged for centuries and for the Yautja it was only getting worse. The Black Yautja were stronger, faster, had greater numbers and not to mention their equipment was far superior to that of their cousins.

The access codes were to make sure that the vessel approaching wasn't hijacked in any way, the codes would be a sign that the hunters were fine and no Black Yautja had followed or hijacked the ship, if no code was sent back then the ship would be destroyed before it had a chance to dock.

"Your code checks out, thank you for your time" the holographic Yautja said before fading out

Sha'ra commenced to dock with the clanship; the clanship was very large and dwarfed many human made ships. It didn't take long for Sha'ra's ship to dock properly and with that she left through the ramp.

"Sister!" a male Yautja called, this Yautja was wearing the same variant of armour an honoured elite would wear, this Yautja was also at least 7 foot 6 and had the same skin pattern Sha'ra had.

"Yeyinde!" Sha'ra greeted her brother as he walked up and gave her a hug, Yeyinde was a common name among the males of her people, mind you that didn't make him any less special to Sha'ra as he was the only two family members she had left.

"How was your hunt sister?" her younger brother asked

"For lack of a better word…..uneventful, prey is getting easier to kill brother; do you remember the stories uncle told us about the humans?" Sha'ra asked

"How they were just as resourceful as us or the fact that they are murderous scum not worthy of a place in history?"

"Has he had another rant today?"

"What do you think?"

It was well known to Sha'ra and Yeyinde that their uncle had mixed views on the Humans as a species as he was one of the veterans of the wars between their races, he would sometimes tell stories of the great hunts he had on their worlds and how they were foes to be reckoned with, he also spoke of how he thoroughly despised them and how they weren't even worthy an honourable death, their uncle was indeed a mixed bag and Sha'ra often wondered the reasons why he was like this.

"Did the Elders request your presence as well brother?" Sha'ra asked

"Indeed they did, it seems they have requested not just us but several other high ranking hunters from their hunts"

"I think its best we find out why as soon as we can"

* * *

It didn't take long for Sha'ra and Yeyinde to reach the main gathering hall, the room was adorned with skulls and skins of hundreds of different species the Yautja had hunted over the centuries, there were strangely more than a few Elders present, this was strange as every clanship had at least 2 or 3 Elders present, here there were at least 7 or 8.

'_Elders hardly ever gather in number like this unless something serious is going on'_ Sha'ra thought

"Sha'ra, Yeyinde I didn't think you two would come this soon" said a deep voice

The voice was that of a large Elder wearing ornate armour and a red cloak, the Elder had a more spotted skin colour like that of a jaguar, but one of the Elders most key defining features was his cybernetic left arm, from what the Elder told many was that he lost his arm in the war against the humans, he never disclosed how exactly.

"Elder Zen'tau" Sha'ra greeted

"Uncle" Yeyinde greeted

Elder Zen'tau then hugged his niece and nephew which was pretty easy due to his large size.

"I have to admit among all these dusty farts and cocky Youngbloods it's good to see you two" Zen'tau chuckled, Zen'tau wasn't like many other elders and clearly spoke his mind no matter what anyone thought, many other Elders would look down their noses (if they had any) at him and think that he didn't deserve the title of an elder, but as many Elders got their positions not from hunting and battle but through inbreeding and class, Zen'tau got his position through being one of the greatest fighters his race had and was once a bodyguard to the Yautja king himself.

"Uncle you should really watch what you say among the other elders, you might anger someone" Yeyinde suggested

"I don't care what these inbred snobs think, if they have a problem with the way I speak I dare them to try shutting me up" Zen'tau said holding his head high; Sha'ra took note of the Elders trying not to pay attention to him and gave a little snicker.

"So why have we been gathered here anyway?" Sha'ra asked her uncle

"I think that is best left for when the high Elder arrives, he is the one who requested us all here" Zen'tau said

As if on cue another Elder entered the room, his robes and armour were much more intricate than that of the other elders; his tusks also had intricate markings and his dreadlock rings were adorned with jewels, this was the high elder and it was very rare when he would appear.

The high elder sat in his seat as did the rest of the Yautja whom where gathered, the elders seats were more throne-esque than the seats of the other yautja. The high elder was basically the adviser of the yautja king and was his voice in matters which concerned this many elders.

"My fellow elders, hunters and huntress' of the Yautja clan, I come before you with words from his highness king Ret'kal" the High Elder said in a deep booming voice that echoed through the hall.

"The king? Must be serious stuff" Yeyinde whispered to his sister

"As many of you know our conflict with the black Yautja is only getting worse, as they have greater numbers, equipment and have taken over a substantial area of our territory" the High Elder said with a grim tone

"Could we request assistance from our allies?" one hunter asked

"You dare think we should run and hide behind our allies legs!? This blood feud has existed for as long as I have remembered and I will be dammed if it is ended by the interference of the Kamads or any other high and mighty race" an Elder from the dark blade clan shouted at the hunter

"Then what do you suggest we do? Keep fighting the way we have done for centuries as the black Yautja slowly kill us off?" Zen'tau spoke up

"I suggest we try bargaining with them, try and come to an understanding" another skinnier Elder spoke

"You think we can reason with them?! Are you insane or just plain idiotic!? We have tried diplomacy in the past only to get the heads of our ambassadors sent back, there isn't any way they would listen to anything we had to offer" Zen'tau bellowed

"You are very good at dismissing plans Zen, but tell me, what is it you think we should do? Should we try defying them only to become mutilated heaps of flesh" another larger Elder spoke, the mention of mutilation clearly struck a nerve and Zen'tau rose from his seat and slammed his fist on the table.

"YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE BEFORE I RIP IT FROM YOUR MOUTH, YOU INSOLENT PUP!" Zen'tau bellowed at the top of his voice, this caused all the other elders and hunters to rise from their seats and start bellowing in a flurry of insults and accusations, Sha'ra remained seated and rubbed her temples while Yeyinde tried to calm their uncle down.

"**SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE! "** the High Elder roared, his voice echoing through the hall and silencing all the other Yautja in the room.

The other Yautja then began sitting back down one by one, the hall was silent as a grave and with good reason, the High Elder wasn't just a loud voice and a wise advisor but he was also the most experienced warrior on the clanship at the moment.

"The King has requested you gather for a reason, the Black Yautja have managed to better us time and time again because they travel in greater numbers and attack us when we let our guard down. What his majesty has in mind is that we gather our greatest warriors and turn them into a task force with the specific task of finding ways of turning the tide against our foes" the High Elder continued

Sha'ra raised her hand to ask a question in respect.

"Huntress Sha'ra?" the High Elder asked

"What kinds of tasks would these warriors face?" she asked

"Anything that helps our people in the war, this could even mean killing Black Yautja hunting parties to finding secret installations" the High Elder spoke

"His majesty also wants these warriors lead by an Elder, an Elder who would stand out as our greatest warrior"

"I volunteer for the position" Zen'tau said with a clear voice

"A few moments ago you protested against such an idea Zen, what changed your mind?" the same Elder who caused the outburst spoke.

"A few moments ago the High Elder hadn't told us the King's orders, now that he has I wish to do his majesty's bidding however I can" Zen'tau spoke loudly

"I fail to see how you quali…." The other Elder began until the High Elder cut him off

"I can see why a former bodyguard to his majesty would volunteer for a position like this, very well Zen'tau you shall be the commander of this operation" the High Elder said, the Elder from before frowned while Zen'tau smirked at how he retreated back into himself.

* * *

The meeting lasted for another hour as the Elders argued and discussed the reasons why this wouldn't work and why it would, Sha'ra could only sit back and soldier through it as the elders were basically saying the same thing over and over again, thankfully though the meeting was finally over and the Huntress could finally leave and get over the boredom she suffered in that hall.

"Thank Paya that is over, I thought I was going to die of old age in there" Sha'ra sighed

"I don't think it was that bad sister" Yeyinde said trailing behind her

"You are used to those kinds of meetings brother, it's only natural that you don't bet bored to death during them" Sha'ra said

"I have to admit I thought uncle was going to rip someone's head off in there" she went on to say

"I wouldn't doubt it, he is capable after all" Yeyinde chuckled

It didn't take long for the siblings to reach Sha'ra's home, Yeyinde lived somewhere on the other side of the clanship but he went with his big sister first to make sure she was safe, this was a waste of time however as his sister could go toe to toe with the best of them and was probably a better fighter then he was.

"You think this will work sister? The plan I mean" Yeyinde asked

"Only time will tell brother, only time will tell" she said as she opened her door and waved her brother goodbye as he left.

She set her things down and thought it best she go to bed, it had been a long weary day so she thought it best to end it there.

As she disrobed in her bedroom and prepared to go to bed she picked up a framed picture at the bedside, the picture contained four Yautja with the same skin pattern she had, a young male standing next to a large male who was the father, and a female holding a smaller female in her arms.

*flashback

"_Now you two be good for your uncle Zen alright? We will be back before you know it" their father smiled_

"_We will father but where are you hunting? Could you bring me something back?" a young Yeyinde asked_

"_I'll try and bring something back for you son, now you look after your sister" their father said_

"_And you look after your brother Sha'ra" their mother said to a younger Sha'ra_

"_I will mama" Sha'ra said as her mother hugged her_

"_If anything happens to these two I will have your head brother" the Father said_

"_Don't worry brother I will take care of them as if they were my own, even the black warrior wouldn't dare harm them" Zen'tau said as he hugged the two children to him._

_The two parents waved as they boarded their ship, the two infants waved back as their uncle held them. The ship then soared away leaving the siblings staring into space._

*end flashback

Sha'ra stared at the picture for a good minute or two before putting it down on her bedside, she lay down and turned off the lights, she closed her emerald eyes and slowly drifted off.

Sha'ra may not have known it at the time but at that exact moment forces were at work that would change her life and the lives of many, some for the worse and some for the better, but one thing was for certain and that was this universe was going to be turned upside down…..very soon.

* * *

Yautja pronunciations:

Sha'ra - sharia

Zen'tau - zenitau

Ka'maris - kai maris

* * *

PHEEEEW you guys have no idea how hard it was trying to write this chapter and make it sound good.

So guys tell me what you thought because I don't know if that was good or bad or whatever, do you think the Yautja dialogue sounded alright? Did you like the way I set things up?

Whatever you dudes and dudettes thought please leave it in the form of a review or a series of comments telling me your opinions.

AND FINNALLY WE FINISHED THE INTRODUCTION CHAPTERS!

The players have been introduced; the stage has been set all we have yet to do is to get the plot moving. The next chapter may take me a little longer to write (I know I said that about this chapter) due to the fact I will try and make it longer and meatier than the previous chapters.

NEXT TIME – Chapter 5: Welcome to the Asclepheus


	6. Chapter 5: Welcome to the Aslepheus

OK ladies and gents here is the fifth chapter of the Asclepheus and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Asclepheus

**Human year: 2200 AD**

The room was enthralled in darkness and the ship's engines could be heard humming throughout the entire ship, this room however was stationed at a part of the ship where the humming could be heard the least, for this room was that of one of the ships most important crew members.

Professor Norma Rockwell was sleeping soundly in her bed; her brown hair with blonde streaks was spread across the pillow messily as she snored loudly. The door to the room opened and another woman came in with a spoon and a frying pan, she slowly walked into the centre of the room and started hitting the pan repeatedly with a spoon causing a loud metallic clanking to fill the room.

Norma instantly jolted up as her head jolted from side to side, the room then lit up showing the white sterile surroundings fitting a high class room of that era. The woman who woke Norma up was none other than Sophie who had a very annoyed look on her face; she placed the spoon and frying pan down and retrieved the notepad she always kept with her.

"Sophie, what the hell?" Norma asked rubbing her eyes.

"It's half past 11 Norma" the American blonde said, Norma's eyes widened and she leapt from bed and started getting dressed.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Norma shouted as she tied her hair into a ponytail

"I didn't think you would need me to professor, seeing as how exited you get with inspections I thought you would have woken up by now…..then again you do often sleep in when…..*sigh* playing strip poker with captain grey and his lieutenants" Sophie groaned at the last part.

"Hey I couldn't help myself….besides didn't you see the captain face when he had to take his boxers off?" Norma laughed at remembering the veteran captains face when he and his men got their arses handed to them by Norma.

"No but I did see his face when he found out you used your pet to look at their hands when playing, I'm pretty sure he was thinking of shooting that dam thing" Sophie said internally smiling as the thought of that dam primate getting blown to smithereens.

"It's called using what you have at your disposal Sophie, I wouldn't have to use Dexter if Captain Grey wasn't using his cybernetic eye" Norma said justifying her actions

"He wasn't using his cybernetic eye!"

"And that's why I won" Norma smiled as she finished getting dressed

Sophie decided to give up, Norma may have been one of the most intelligent people on the ship but she could be stubborn as an OX sometimes.

"Well what are we waiting for...oh yeah, DEXTER!" Norma called her flying capuchin who flew down and sat on her shoulder giving a grin that looked too big for his face.

"Well let's go my dear Sophie" Norma said with a huge smile as she and Sophie left the room.

"So what's first on the agenda?" Norma asked as Sophie looked at her notepad

"Well the captain requested the presence of the head scientists on the bridge"

"What for?"

"He didn't say, only that it was of the upmost importance"

"He has to be dramatic about everything doesn't he?"

"He's the captain…it's his job"

* * *

Captain Grey was waiting at the bridge of the Asclepheus with a few of the head scientists of the project along with Captain Azarov who were also waiting patiently for one more vital member of the crew.

"Does it usually take her this long to arrive?" Captain Grey asked while fixing the collar on his officers' vest, the medals jangling as he did.

"Don't worry Captain I'm sure she is on her way this instant" said one man who was obviously one of the head scientists, this man looked to be in his mid-50's yet still managed a slim build befitting a researcher, this man's name was David Isenberg and he was the head scientist of the Asclepheus project.

As if on cue the doors to the bridge opened up to reveal Norma with Dexter on her shoulder and Sophie looking out of breath, Norma didn't look tired at all and in fact looked kind of calm and collected. Not many people would know by looking at her but Norma was a very fast runner and had enough stamina to back it up.

"Ah Professor Rockwell, glad to see you could make it" Captain Azarov said as she smiled to Norma

"I'm sorry if I'm a bit late, but I just had to check on the Aurelian Skarnaks we picked up last week" Norma said, the Skarnaks were one of the newest subjects on board the ship and were magnificent in the eyes of a Xenobiologist like Norma. Skarnaks were large arthropods that had the physiology of scorpions, lobsters and centipedes; they were about as tall as a man when they weren't arched up. They didn't have eyes to speak of and located their prey through vibrations, though the strangest thing about them was the fact that they shredded their prey with their thousands of rows or razor sharp rotating teeth (…..yes that's right….rotating…..teeth…..fucking awesome) leaving nothing but a red mist that would be ejected through the vents on its carapace.

"You are obsessed with those things" one of the male scientists said

"I'm fairly sure it's my job to be obsessed with them, you on the over hand I'm not so sure about" Norma said as she walked up to take a seat

"I'm just concerned that if given the chance they would tear everyone to shreds" the scientist said folding his arms

"So would a lot of the alien species on this ship…it's not their fault the think we look tasty" Norma said, in her heart Norma loved every part of her job aboard this ship and loved every species they had just as much, though this didn't mean she was blind to how dangerous they could be if they got loose.

"Have you finished?" Captain Grey asked the scientists stopping their little squabble.

"Good, now I guess you are wondering why I called you all up here on a day like inspection day, instead of cataloguing and studying the hundreds of species on board like you are supposed to, I have you gathered here to tell you a piece of information that may change our species outlook on the universe forever" the Captain said being as thematic as he possibly could, David raised his hand to ask a question.

"I'm sorry Captain, but what could be more important to do with the mission than studying the creatures we have picked up?" David asked

"The binary transmission" the Captain said quickly

"Bullshit….there isn't any way anything came back, it was a stupid idea sending it out in the first place" one of the female scientists said

"We received a reply in binary this morning and the ships computer translated it as something not human or Yautja" the Captain said, this silenced the scientists and even Captain Azarov who all had looks on their faces that displayed a mix of confusion and excitement, the latter being Norma.

"What does the message say?" Norma asked with an upbeat tone

"the message translates as this '_to the representatives of the human race, we mean you no harm or violence and hope to extend a hand in friendship, our species is known as the Kamads and as you read this message we will have sent two representatives of our species. We would greatly appreciate it if you make their stay as comfortable as you possibly can as they will be greatly suspicious of you at first, they shall allow you to test their physical capabilities and will answer any questions you send their way to show you our faith in you. Expect their arrival soon as it won't take them long to arrive'"_

Norma felt her heart jolt in pure excitement as the message was read out while many of the other scientist's reactions weren't as readable.

"A….sentient…race?" David asked in almost a whisper of a voice, he was astonished as were the other scientists, in the years they had spent on the Asclepheus their expectations of reaching a sentient race were weakening every day, At this point it was considered an almost impossibility.

"It can't be" a male scientist said in an almost breathless voice

"It has to be…what else could explain that?" a female scientists asked

"Professor Rockwell care to give us your opinion?" Captain Azarov said breaking Norma out of her trance

"Well….I think that this…is fucking awesome!" Norma exclaimed after a few pauses

"Just think of it, humanities first contact with a non-violent species…I think the captain was right when he said this could chance our view on the universe, just think of all we could learn from them" Norma was obviously exited and Sophie had never seen her this way before at least not to this extent.

"There isn't any guarantee that this species is not violent Professor" Azarov said

"In the event that they are, isn't it your job to deal with them?" one of the other scientists asked

"Yes it is but we won't be held responsible for your safety if you let these 'Kamads' get too close and show their true intentions" Captain Grey said sternly

"I don't think so Captain, I believe that if the Kamads meant us harm they would sent us a message telling us that they were going to arrive soon, but if you'll excuse me I have things to attend to" Norma said as she rose from her seat and went to leave

"Attend to what?" David asked

"In case you didn't notice Professor….we have guests to prepare for" Norma said with a bright smile as she left the room followed by Sophie.

Norma and Sophie then came to one of the ship's trams, the tram system of the ship was a necessity due to the ship's colossal size, and the trams were a fast and efficient means of transporting the crew around the ship with minimal fuss.

"Do you really mean what you said? I think that Captain Azarov might be right about them being hostile" Sophie said clutching her notepad as always.

"Stop being so paranoid Sophie, I believe wholeheartedly that this will be one of humanities key defining moments" Norma said optimistically.

'_I can't believe that I'm going to be meeting sentient alien life forms soon, mom and dad would be so proud' _Norma thought, she was going to have a blast running tests on the Kamads, of course she would have to make sure that the tests weren't going to hurt the Kamads….hell she had to find out if Kamads had pain receptors….she didn't even know what they would act or look like, for all she could know they could be ethereal beings of energy or even sentient machines, hell they could look like the stereotypical star trek aliens that looked pretty much human except for elf ears.

"My dear Sophie, could you please clear my schedule and dedicate it solely for preparing for our guests arrival?" Norma asked her assistant.

"Everything…..are you ok Norma?" Sophie asked, Norma never dedicated this much time to anything but her research but this seemed compulsive to say the least.

"I'm better than ok Sophie, I am as happy as can be, I just can't wait to meet them, I'm just getting giddy from wondering how wise and intelligent they will be" Norma was simply ecstatic at the news and nothing was going to dampen her spirits.

* * *

*Meanwhile a few light-years away

"It makes you look like the arse end of a Kree-van" Eli said bluntly as Rezeal was trying on some formal robes for the first contact with the humans.

"Really? Because I think it makes me look quite dashing" Rezeal said as he flicked the robes around.

"Trust me Rez, I'm the son of the emperor and I know shit robes when I see them, I'm very sure that the Aralians that sold you those saw you coming" Eli said as he eyed his friends very bizarre ware.

"What do you suggest we wear then?" Rezeal asked

"I suggest we do a dramatic reveal, we lower the ramp, and fog comes out as does a blinding light and we emerge in our full armour" Eli said leaving Rezeal with a pause

"…where in the nine hell's did get that from?" Rezeal asked

"I've been looking at many of the radio signals we have intercepted from the humans over the years and discovered this in things humans call 'films' which are basically works of fiction in a visual medium" Eli said letting his friend make a statement

"They sound more advanced than I thought"

"the strange thing is that in the films where they supposedly make first contact with an alien race, the race in question emerges from a Smokey brightly lit ship and reveal themselves as dramatically as possible" Eli explained

"…that sounds very very improbable" Rezeal retorted after a long pause

"Dam straight it does" Eli immediately replied

"Have you managed to get a few of their languages down? Because I don't want to bust out the extrapolator" Rezeal said rubbing the back of his neck, the extrapolator basically took a sample of a language and the species speaking it its facial reactions, when these were processed a full knowledge of the language would then be transplanted directly into the Kamads brain stem via the back of the neck instantly letting them learn the language, Kamads were among the only races that could use the extrapolator due to their rapid healing ability.

"Well I've picked up English, Japanese and Russian, by the time we arrive I will have learnt French, Spanish, German and Chinese" Eli said

"How many languages is it you know right now?" Rezeal asked

"Five hundred and thirty eight and counting" Eli said with pride in his voice, due to his position as an Elite and future emperor it really helped to know the languages of the people he would be protecting, we was basically a lingual genius while Rezeal only knew the languages he needed to know on the current mission.

"Well let me know how that goes, I might as well get changed back into my gear if we aren't going to go with the robes then" Rezeal said as he went into the back segment of the ship

"Have fun with that" Eli said as he kept his eyes fixed on the console, on the console was a translation program that Kamad Elites used to transfer languages straight to their Brainstems, this method was easier and less painful than using an extrapolator due to the fact that it slowly transferred information and didn't have to be violently inserted into the Elites neck.

Eli felt himself getting tired as his eyes got heavier, he had been transferring information to his brain for 9 hours straight without any rest, and he was going to do his father proud by being the best ambassador he could be. This meant his communication skills had to be at the peak efficiency, through studying these Human 'films' he had found that the main thing that caused aliens to be very unsociable was because they couldn't understand human sayings and expressions so he wasn't just transferring knowledge of languages but expressions as well.

Eli's eyes then shut slowly as he drifted off into his dreams, Kamads didn't sleep quite the same way humans did, Kamads didn't sleep as often as Humans but when they did sleep they would nod of for twice as long, it was probably due to the Kamads longevity and large amounts stamina that allowed them the ability to stay active for days at a time without so much as getting tired.

Eli's dreams where strange indeed even for a Kamad, of course Kamads didn't dream of the same stuff humans would due to their very different natures, at heart humans were very kind and caring due to the fact they were mammals and family creatures that survived through making communities while Kamads were predators at heart and evolved through becoming more effective killers, this didn't mean Kamads couldn't be kind and caring but it was just that Kamads only began taking care of each other and forming family groups once they became advanced enough.

Though those times were far behind them and the Kamads had become a respected race in the galactic community. Kamad dreams were mostly made up of them fantasizing about hunting down and tearing apart smaller prey creatures or fighting in mighty battles, Eli's dreams however felt much different, they involved voices he never heard, places he had never been and people he had never met, He had spoken with his father about these dreams and had gotten nowhere.

* * *

*Eli's dream

"_Push, just keep pushing!" _a female voice said urgently

"_Aaaaaaaaaaagh!" _a woman screamed

"_Come on dear keep pushing it will be over soon!" _a male voice said with a worried tone

"_Aaaaaaaaaaagh!" _the woman screamed, the sound of a child screaming

"_It's a girl!" _the first voice said

"_Did you hear that baby it's a….Sandra...Sandra?!" _the male voice voce asked before breaking out into a series of sobs and cry's

A new series of sounds then proceeded; it was that of a woman panting with that of screaming in the background along with a series of screeches and bloodcurdling yells.

"_Just stay here and don't make a sound!" _a woman's voice said in a firm tone, she was obviously out of breath

"_Mom where's dad?" _the voice of a little boy asked

"_Don't worry daddy's fine….daddy's fine" _the woman's voice said as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment, Eli could tell by that tone that she was lying

There was then the sound of a door closing followed close by the woman's screams as it sounded like she was being dragged away, there was a long pause before the sound of the little boy crying was heard.

* * *

*dream end

Before the dream could get any stranger Eli felt something shaking him awake, he looked over his shoulder to see Rezeal standing there with a worried look on his face.

"Was it the dream again?" Rezeal asked

"Yeah….how did you know?" Eli said groggily

"You always drool when it's that dream" Rezeal stated bluntly

"…you watch me sleep?" Eli asked wide eyed

"Well we did spend time as roommates in collage"

"….collage...that's a human word, have you been transferring info while I was asleep?"

"This is my mission too my friend, I have to pull my weight around as well" Rezeal said after letting out a yawn, Eli looked to Rezeal's neck and saw a few wires sticking out of the nape of his neck, a classic sign that an Elite was transferring info.

Eli felt the back of his neck to find that the wires had been removed from him and is neck was smooth.

"You were going a bit over board with the Transferring, so I removed the wires and logged myself in" Rezeal said pointing a thumb to his nape.

"I reckon I got my fill of info anyway" Eli said as he rose up, he would need to get a bit of sleep to allow is brain time to adapt and process the new information he had transferred into it, this was a normal procedure when transferring info as it was a taxing process on the brain.

"Trust me Rez…these humans have a lot of strange saying to get through, be sure to keep an open mind and don't reject anything or your brain will fry" Eli said leaving the room

"Don't worry I always have an open mind" Rezeal stated

"Yeah and that's why you don't have a mate yet"

"Neither do you!" Rezeal shouted back

"Blame that on lack of trying!" Eli said causing the both of them to chuckle.

* * *

Norma had just finished preparing all the necessary tests and exercises for the aliens when they arrived; she had reaction time tests and exercises that would determine their strength and speed in comparison to that of a human.

"Are you sure they're gonna mind that the first thing we do is run tests on them?" Sophie asked from behind

"Sophie I'm sure that an advanced alien race wouldn't mind a few medical examinations to make sure they are safe around us, trust me it's completely necessary"

"You call a dental examination necessary?"

"….yeah" Norma said after a pause of thought

"Sometimes I wonder how I ended up being your assistant" Sophie sighed

"Can you blame me for being this exited Sophie? It's the first time humanity actually has a chance to join a bigger universe, humans have dreamt of this moment for hundreds of years and we finally get to witness it first hand, don't you think that makes us the luckiest humans alive?" Norma said, Sophie didn't think it meant this much to her and was honestly surprised

"Well I never really thought about it like that, I always tried to live in the present so I never thought about the future like that" Sophie said solemnly

"You should talk about yourself a bit more" Norma said putting a hand on Sophie's shoulder.

"Never have the time to, besides it's not like anyone would be interested"

"I would be" Norma said with a smile

"Don't you have tests and stuff to prepare?"

"Oh shit I do!" Norma said as she went back to what she was doing before, Sophie simply stood there and let out a breath before going to help her out.

* * *

Meanwhile in another area of the ship, deep down in the cooling units where no one ever goes due to the freezing temperatures, a man was walking through the dark recesses of the cooling units. This man was wearing a suit that engineers used when doing construction or maintenance in the cooler parts of the ship or on the exteriors.

The man then came to a door that was locked with an old age keypad, he typed in the ode and the door hissed open giving the man enough time to get in and shut the door behind him. This room was larger and more spacious and in the centre were three unopened cryo-tubes, the man then took off his suit to reveal a man in his mid-30's with brown spiky hair wearing a lab coat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Rubix cube like object and set it on the floor.

He pressed a few of the squares on the cube and a few jets of light shot out before contrasting themselves into the shape of a human, the hologram then shaped itself into the image of a man in his 60's.

"_Doctor Blair" _the hologram nodded

"Mr Weyland" the man nodded back

"_Did you receive the package?" _Weyland asked

Blair looked at the three cryo-tubes and replied in kind "yes sir, I received the packages without a fuss, no one suspects a thing, believe me it isn't that hard to hide these in a ship this big"

"_Very good, have there been any complications?" _Weyland asked, Blair scratched his head and let out a long sigh.

"We received a transmission from another species" Blair let out

"_What… Are you saying you received a message from another alien race?" _Weyland asked

"Yes, everyone knows this and they will arrive soon…" Blair said to get interrupted by Weyland violently coughing and spluttering all over the place, he held a hand to his mouth and quickly regained his composure.

"_It doesn't matter, what matters is that you proceed with the plan, remember what you have to do and don't let anyone stop you" _Weyland said with a weak voice as he rubbed his mouth with a white cloth.

"Are you sure you are alright sir?"

"_I'm fine; you just concentrate on your part!"_ Weyland half shouted

"…yes sir" Blair said as Weyland's hologram disappeared and the lights on the cube went out.

Blair retrieved the cube and pocketed it before going over to the middle cryo-tube, he wiped the condensation off of the glass and looked into it, lying there was the figure of a woman wearing a full body latex outfit that had covered everything but her chest, she had short blond hair but her facial features couldn't be made out due to being covered by a large spiked face hugger.

The face hugger was latched on her tightly and firmly, this one was easily larger than the other two and the spikes on it gave the impression that the embryo was greater than that of the others.

"I'm sorry about this miss, but your death will be worth it…you on the other hand your majesty, I hope you like your new nest….I picked it out specially for you" Blair whispered with a smile on his face.

Blair typed a code into the cryo-tubes which opened up with a hiss, the face hugger began slightly twitching and their tails slid tighter around their hosts neck's, Blair put his suit back on and before he put his helmet on he looked at the squirming face huggers and smiled.

"Sleep tight" he said before putting the helmet on and leaving the room.

* * *

"Captain I'm picking up something" one of the pilots of the Quatermaine said to the captain

"What is it…meteors?" the Captain asked

"No sir the movements are all wrong for a Meteor, its running on its own energy"

"Is it human or Yautja?" the Captain asked once again

"…neither sir"

"Alert the Asclepheus and tell them to get ready, we have visitors" the captain said rising from his seat.

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the docking bay of the Asclepheus, Norma with Dexter in her shoulder, Sophie, Captain Azarov, Captain Grey, Professor Isenberg and even Doctor Blair. Many of the scientists and even some engineers were present, not to mention a few marines here and there with pulse rifles at the ready just in case things went south.

"Now remember everyone, no sudden movements or loud noises, they might be very very sensitive" Norma said loudly for everyone to hear.

"Marines don't fire unless on my command, and remember not to point your weapons directly at them, they might see it as a threat or challenge" Grey said in a commanding tone.

The ship came in slow and it obviously wasn't a Yautja or a human ship due to the more streamlined appearance, the ship was very large and since the message said only two representatives were coming the kamads must be very large as well.

The ship came in silently which clearly showed how advanced these beings were due to the fact that human ships made a ton of sound when docking.

The ship landed with a loud clank and the marines present seemed to tense up and get a steady grip of their pulse rifles.

What seemed to be a landing ramp slowly extended from the ship's side, Norma couldn't be more exited as the ramp slowly touched the floor, the moment the ramp touched down the doors of the ship opened up and a blinding light shone from the opened doors showing two very large humanoid silhouettes.

The two figures slowly began walking down the ramp, their steel plated boots making clanking noises as they did, these figures looked similar but also individual, they were both the same size at around 9 feet tall, one had long white dreadlocks reaching around the back of its shoulder blades, the other had dreadlocks of the same length but only black. The one with the white dreadlocks had a long black leather coat and was heavily armoured from head to toe and had two katanas on his hips, the other had a long red leather coat with black markings and his armour was black instead of the silver coloured armour the other wore, this on also had a short sword and a strange looking cross between a knife and a hook.

The two figures wore strange helmets that looked like they were parts of the armour; the helmets fit snuggly against their heads and let their dreadlocks hang freely, the visors were only around what was presumably the eye area and had parts of the helmet reaching out at the nose area (if have trouble imagining the helms they basically look like Uruk-hai helmets without the frills on the tops).

The two reached the end of the ramp and towered over all the humans present, Norma was astounded at how at full height she only reached these creatures waists, many of the humans saw this feature as very threatening as when humans reached that height they looked either very skinny and disproportionate or they would develop walking problems while these giants were perfectly proportionate and it was a little unnerving.

Norma then noticed how these beings had reptilian tails swishing freely behind them and almost gave out a little exited scream like a fangirl, the one with Black Dreadlocks noticed this and tilted his head in a confused fashion before turning to the other one and murmuring in a strange alien dialect.

"_Yukon Petife Ulo Aiz Shufiono Zan Alla Trial_" (the short one is staring at our tails) Rezeal said in his native tongue

"_Ain Shala Allu Dunnono Yakal Yukola Raik Shufo Petife_" (in case you didn't notice they are all short) Eli retorted in Kamad

Captain Grey would have stepped forward to greet them if Norma hadn't beaten him to the punch line and stood directly in front of them and held her hand out smiling.

"Hello, I'm Professor Norma Rockwell, and welcome to the Asclepheus" She said with a smile, Captain Grey and many of the other were wide eyed at how she just approached the nine foot tall alien giants so cheerfully.

Eli's helmet then began to retract into the neck piece of his Armour until his face was revealed, well half of his face was covered by the red and white bandana he usually wore but the humans were more fixated on his golden reptilian eyes which glittered in the light, he then gave an unmistakable smile and extended his hand and took hers and shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms Rockwell, I'm Eli and this is Rezeal, we represent the Kamad Empire in these matters" Eli said in almost perfect English, every single human present looked like their lower jaws could fall off, Norma simply smiled the biggest smile she could muster as sheer excitement welled up inside her.

Things aboard the Asclepheus were officially on a whole new level aboard weird and these two alien giants weren't the only things that were the cause of it.

* * *

Phew so there we go ladies and gents, the first real chapter of the story and let me tell you it was hell to wright. So I want to know what you guys think and that means stuff like:

What the fuck was Eli dreaming about?

What did you think of the way I introduce the Xeno's on board?

Did you find my description of what Eli and Rezeal were wearing helpful?

What did you think in general?

Illustrations of Eli, Rezeal and the Aurelian Skarnak are on the deviant art page of my friend artisticaldarkness.

Please leave a review/comment or simply PM me on what you thought

Next time - Chapter 6: if it bleeds….then we can piss it off


	7. Chapter 6: A Test?

Alright here we go chapter 6 up in here, now a bit of fair warning there are a few graphic bits in this chapter that some may find upsetting, if you are offended by characters that are just beyond being shitbags then I apologize in advance

I also changed the title because the last title I had for this didn't really fit the outcome

Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 6: You didn't say anything about a test

"Did…did that thing just speak English?" one of the marines asked pointing at Eli

The entire crew were just gobsmacked at the fact that one of the aliens had just spoken English almost fluently which was something no one expected.

"Greetings I am captain Nathanial grey of the USS Quatermaine and I welcome you to the Asclepheus" Captain grey said standing in front of the two large Kamad Elites

"Pleasure to meet you captain" Eli said extending a hand; Grey would have shook it if he hadn't realized the kamads hand was massive compared to his, Nathanial then remembered that this was the first contact and he should be as polite as possible.

Captain Grey shook Eli's hand and felt a little awkward about the fact that the size of Eli's hand made him feel like a child shaking an adult's hand.

Eli then turned to Rezeal and sharply elbowed him in the ribs and giving him a glare; Rezeal sighed and retracted his helm revealing his sharp red reptilian eyes.

"Happy now?"

"Stop being rude and say hello" Eli said sternly to his friend

Rezeal hated being scolded like a child especially by his best friend but Eli was his superior on this mission and let out a groan before replying

"Hello" Rezeal said bluntly waving his hand

Eli simply shook his head at this and decided that it be best not to dwell on it, Rezeal was always like this when meeting new people and it was very improbable that it was going to change anytime soon.

"Forgive my friend he is a little….what's the human word? Hard to work with" Eli said looking down on the humans in front of him trying to be as unimposing as could, he knew for a fact that his height could be a little intimidating to other species.

"Excuse me but would you mind if you come with me so I can…you know…..run some tests?" Norma asked sheepishly to the nine foot tall Kamads who looked to each other

"Uh…..of course" Eli said

The two kamads failed to see the look of worry on Sophie's face as she knew what Norma was like with her tests.

"Well Gentlemen I guess Professor Rockwell can give you a tour of the ship and let you know where everything is" Captain Grey said to the two large aliens

"Brilliant, now gents if you would follow me" Norma said leading the two to the tram system to begin their tour, Sophie followed them and hoped that the dam monkey wouldn't ruin things.

* * *

It didn't take long for Norma to show Eli and Rezeal around the ship once they hit the tram system, it was strange seeing the Kamads get inside as their heads where almost scraping the ceiling of the trams themselves. The trams where one of the human parts of the ship as they were obviously meant for humans while the ceilings of the hallways where large enough for the kamads to walk normally in, the beings who made the ship first must have been very tall for the ceilings to be that large.

Norma finally got to her lab where she could properly study the kamads physical attributes, on the way here Sophie did warn her not to piss off the large and possibly very dangerous alien warriors by going too far with her tests.

Norma though knew that if these kamads where indeed that tough then her tests would be nothing to be worried about.

Eli was lying down on a chair like one a dentist wold use, Norma insisted that Eli remove some of his heavier gear so that he wouldn't break the thing by sitting on it. So he removed his sword belt, his coat and his right shoulder guard.

"Alright could you remove your bandana please?" Norma asked looming over Eli

Eli removed his bandana to uncover the lower half of his face, to Norma's surprise he looked more human than she expected, his lower jaw however did seem a little 'off' somehow like there was more to it, she did notice his nose was a different to that of a human as it had these strange slits down the sides probably for enhanced smell.

"I'm guessing your sense of smell is above average?" she said gesturing to his nose slits

"Kamads have the best sense of smell in the galaxy" Eli said with pride in his voice

"Interesting, how do I smell?" she asked

"Uuh alright I guess" Eli said a bit confused at this human's behaviour

Norma noticed that when Eli spoke his teeth where pointed indicating he was a carnivore, thought she did want a closer look.

"Could you open wide please?" Norma asked staring at Eli's mouth

"As wide as I can?" he replied

"Yes please" she said exited

Eli then proceeded to open his mouth revealing his serrated teeth but as his out finished opening his lower lips opened up into two large mandibles with two large tusks on the ends (like the reapers from blade2 only his lower jaw is still there) on the pieces of flesh on the inside of his mandibles Norma saw some more slit like openings like the ones on his nose and pieced all this together.

"Are these secondary nostrils?" Norma asked touching the slits on the inside of his mandibles

"Uh huh" Eli grunted with his mouth still wide open

Norma looked closer and began examining the inside of the Kamad's mouth

"This is amazing, I've never seen anything like this before" Norma said fiddling with the insides of Eli's mouth which was seriously beginning to get awkward n his end.

"Are you quite finished?" Rezeal asked as Norma seemed to be enjoying this a bit too much, she came back to her senses and took half of the tools she had in his mouth out.

"Yeah, thanks for that" Norma said with a wide smile

Eli cracked his jaw and retracted his mandibles back into place before putting his bandana back up, the real reason he wore it was because man of the humans on board would probably be threatened by his serrated teeth and nose slits.

"Don't mention it" he said putting his gear back on as the four began walking down the hallway over to the trams

"Now I hope you two won't mind helping me fill out a profile?" Sophie asked

"Profile for what?" Rezeal asked

"Your species, you know like how your lifespan works and your physical capabilities" Norma added

"Of course, I don't see any problems with that" Eli replied

"Ok first of all how does your species lifespan work?" Sophie asked taking out a pen

"Well the best I can explain it is that the more time that passes the slower we age"

"Could you elaborate?"

"Alright, it would only take a few years for a kamad to reach a child stage, about 10 or 20 of your human years and with every stage it takes longer to reach from 100's of years to thousands"

"So how old are you two?"

"I'm 1430 and Rezeal is 1428" Eli said nonchalantly

"…..wow….you look good for being 14 centuries old" Sophie said surprised, the two kamads did look remarkably young for being that old, Norma on the other hand was on cloud nine for she was in the presence of two beings that belonged to an alien race that could reach over a thousand years old, this was shaping out to be an exciting day indeed.

"So in human terms what stage would you be in?" Norma asked

"If we were humans we would be around our mid-20's" Rezeal said

"That young?!" Sophie asked as she wrote it down

"Yeah"

"How old can Kamads get?" Norma asked as they reached the trams

"Well the oldest of our species are around 20,000 years old" Eli said as he stepped into the tram

"20,000 years old?" Sophie and Norma asked simultaneously

"I think its best that you wait for that to sink in before asking more questions" Eli said as the tram doors closed

The two kamads then realized a lot of crew members on the tram were eyeing them awkwardly, some crew even staring at their tails or eyes.

"We are certainly popular today" Rezeal said to his friend

"Really? I never noticed" Eli replied as the tram sped off.

* * *

Dr Blair had rushed back to where he had stashed the Xenomorph hosts in order to check up on them, he was wearing the cryo suit again so the cooling systems wouldn't freeze him to death.

He came up to the door and activated the camera he had on the other side, the camera showed the three hosts two of which with holes visible in their chests, the two males had looks of terror frozen on their faces and the holes looked very violently torn apart as if feasted on while the female was unconscious and breathing steadily.

"Must take queens longer to gestate" Blair said to himself

Two large warriors were present in the room looming over the female host as if sniffing her and checking her '_they must be able to sense the queen…fascinating' _Blair thought with admiration.

"Is anyone there?" came a female voice from the way Blair came from, Blair quickly put his screen away and got to his feet.

"Over here" he called to the voice

"Oh hey what are you doing here?" said a woman in a cryo suit, Blair looked the woman up and down and saw that she was obviously a mechanic and had come down probably to do some maintenance.

"Just doing a little maintenance on the cooling units, what about you?" Blair asked making up the best lie he could muster

"I just noticed one of the cryo suits was missing and thought to come down and check if anyone was here" she said, this girl was at least 20 and Blair could see through her visor that she was very pretty.

"Oh ok, sorry for worrying you…does anyone know you're down here? I just don't want to get the shaft from the boss" Blair asked

"I get you, nope no one knows, I thought it best to take initiative" the girl said as she and Blair began walking side by side back the way they came

"What's your name?" Blair asked

"Claire, I'm new around" Claire said with a smile, she was indeed a very pretty girl

"Pleasure to meet you Claire" Blair said before he quickly got behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck and put her in a chokehold.

"GAH ghhhnggg" Claire tried to scream but her air got cut off by Blair's strong arms

"I'm sorry about this Claire, I truly am but I can't risk you or anyone else discovering this" Blair whispered to her as he squeezed harder.

"Shh shh shh calm down and go to sleep" Blair whispered

He kept his arms wrapped firmly around her neck as she flailed her arms behind her trying to get free from his grip, Blair kept his hold until her body went limp and her arms fell to her sides.

Blair let go and checked to see whether she was dead or still alive by checking her wrist, on the wrist of the cryo suit was a screen that showed the wearer's vital signs and on Claire's wrist the heart monitor was still going indicating that she was just barely alive.

"Quite the little fighter aren't you?" Blair said with a bit of glee in his voice, he then directed his attention back to the door with the Xeno's inside and smiled.

"I think I have a better use for you pretty" Blair said as he dragged her limp body over to the door.

* * *

Claire's eyes fluttered open and she realized she wasn't in her cryo suit anymore, she felt like she couldn't move and her eyes weren't in focus, she blinked a few times to clear them and when she did…..she wished she didn't.

She was suspended on the wall encased in a strange cocoon binding her arms and legs to the wall, she could see the contents of the room in front of her, two Xenomorph warriors had their sights fixed on her every movement and behind them was the corpse of a very beautiful woman with a gaping hole in her chest, but the thing that stood out the most was the creature cleaning itself up beside the corpse was the body of a Xenomorph with a large head crest with a few extra arms suspended in the air with a very large egg sac attached to its abdomen.

'_Oh god please no' _Claire thought with dread as the queen squeezed an egg out of its sack which one of the warriors quickly retrieved and set down right in front of Claire who was struggling to get free with no avail, as the egg began to open Claire was paralyzed with fear and couldn't look away from the horrible sight as something emerged from the egg covered in goo.

Claire was about to scream her lungs out but the creature leapt out and latched onto her face wrapping its tail around her throat and its digits around her face tightly, her screams went down to whimpers which in turn went down to silence as her body went limp and the face hugger began laying its embryo.

* * *

Blair had just hooked up both Cryo suits back where they belonged and logged both users back in, he shut the locker and turned to put his lab coat back on, he smiled and left the room greeting passers-by.

* * *

"Now try and pick it up"

"Are you being serious?"

"Yeah go ahead"

"Ok then"

Norma had just told Sophie to try and pick up one of the land jeeps in the hanger bay, Sophie grabbed the underside of the jeep and strained to lift it.

"Ngh…no I can't do it" Sophie panted as she let go

"Ok then" Norma smiled

"So what did that accomplish?" Sophie asked

"Eli if you would give it a try please?" Norma asked the white haired Kamad

"As you wish" Eli said as he strolled over to the jeep and crouched down to grab the underside, he then lifted it right above his head with little trouble in fact he reckoned he could have one armed it though he didn't want to make Sophie feel weaker.

"Am I fucking dreaming?" Sophie asked as she saw the kamad holding a jeep above his head with ease like it was nothing.

"You aren't dreaming Sophie, it's just like I suspected"

"What did you expect exactly?" Sophie asked with her arms crossed

"Well these two looked pretty big built plus their bone structures are at least ten times sturdier and denser than that of a human, I am willing to bet that is because their planet is way larger than ours and hence their gravity is much greater than the gravity on earth, this explains their bone structures and how Eli can pick up a jeep like that" Norma explained

"Well…if their gravity is so much greater then why aren't they leaping around the place when they are walking around?" Sophie asked

"I believe I can answer that" Rezeal said stepping in

"You see our boots? Well they are specially designed to generate an artificial field of gravity to stop us from leaping around the place, though for battle purposes we can turn them off to gain an advantage over our enemies, the rest of our armour also has this function to stop us from tearing the interior of other species ships apart" Rezeal explained while motioning to different parts of his armour while Eli put the jeep down.

"For example I turned the function on my arms and feet off just now in order to pick up the jeep" Eli said joining in the conversation.

"Your species is that advanced?" Sophie asked amazed at how advanced these Kamads were

"Not only that but our armour shares certain physical attributes with us such as our regeneration ability" Eli said

"You're shitting me" Sophie said in disbelief

"We could prove it to you" Rezeal said

"No time for that, we have other tests to attend to" Norma said

"Alright like what?" Rezeal asked

"What do you gentlemen know about gynaecology?" Norma asked

Eli and Rezeal's eyes widened and Dexter gave a little screech like laugh while flapping his wings.

* * *

Ok everyone let me know what you thought such as

-what do you think about Blair?

-Was my explanation about the Kamads lifespans and gravity difference ok?

-are you liking this story so far

Let me know what you thought in the form of a comment/review or PM and I promise to thank you if you leave any of these because I love getting other opinions and am open to constructive criticism (in fact it helps me improve the way I write my stories)

This is Dakkaman777 saying if I don't see you through week I'll see you through window!

NEXT TIME: Chapter 7: GAME OVER MAN!


	8. Chapter 7: GAME OVER MAN!

Ok people this is where the shit hits the fan and chaos comes, in the words of a great man

Now….shall we begin?

* * *

Chapter 7: GAME OVER MAN!

Everything was silent on board the Asclepheus and the majority of the crew was asleep while a skeleton crew was operating the deck making sure the ship was on course.

Captain Grey was on the bridge of the Quatermaine with a cup of coffee in his hand while the ship's pilots flicked the flashing controls to keep the ship running.

"Captain Grey we are receiving a message from Captain Azarov" one of the pilots told the Captain

"Put it through" the Captain said after taking a sip of his coffee

The screen showed a very tired looking Azarov sitting in her captain's chair "Captain Grey I'm going to turn in for the night is that alright?" the Russian captain asked

"Alright Cynthia have a good sleep, I'll take control for the night" Grey said with a smile

The screens of the Newton showed Captain Grey as Captain Azarov left the bridge leaving the pilots with Captain Grey's likeness on their screens.

"Full ahead full" Captain Grey ordered the pilots of both ships as they kept pace with the Asclepheus.

* * *

Eli and Rezeal slept as soundly as Kamads could (on their backs snoring like fog horns) with their feet hanging off the edge of their beds.

Due to the Kamad's large sizes they each needed a double king size bed to accommodate them which wasn't hard on a ship with thousands of human inhabitants.

* * *

Norma slept silently in her bed with her hair undone while Dexter was sleeping in his cage with his wings ruffled up with his tail wagging slightly.

* * *

"Captain I'm picking something up" one of the Pilots said

"What an asteroid or something?" the Captain asked

"No it's bigger, much bigger not to mention they are way too fast to be asteroids" the Pilot said analysing the screen studying the strange patterns they were picking up.

Then with no warning at all 4 colossal battleships emerged from the darkness of space directly in front of the Quatermaine, all four ships looked very Yautja-like only they had darker armour plating and red markings on the side like no other Yautja ships had.

"Yautja ships Captain?" the pilot asked eyes fixed on the ships

"Those aren't Yautja, ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" the Captain shouted at the top of his lungs into the intercom causing the sleeping crew members to scramble to their stations and Marines to get geared up.

One of the 4 ships engaged the Quatermaine and shot a plasma blast into its hull tearing it to pieces.

"SIR WE JUST GOT HIT INTO THE MAIN HULL!"

"SEAL IT UP AND POWER UP THOSE SHIELDS!" the Captain shouted his orders to the pilots and quickly got into his chair.

* * *

Captain Azarov woke up to the sounds of alarm claxons and men shouting, she knew that sound because it was the sound of an attack.

She leapt out of bed and put on her officers jacket and her gun belt around her waist and opened her door to see marines and crew members running back and forth to their stations. Azarov followed suit and ran into the direction of the bridge and to her horror when she got there she saw the ships attacking.

"CAPTAIN AZAROV, WE'RE LOSING POWER! THEY'VE HIT OUR GENERATORS!" one of the pilots shouted

"THEN SWITCH TO BACK UP'S AND FIRE ALL MAIN BATTERIES!" Azarov shouted her orders as the Newton began to fire its pulse batteries as the attacking ships only for the projectiles to impact upon the enemy ship's plasma shields

The enemy ship then fired several objects that weren't plasma bolts into the side of the Newton, these objects looked like drills only meant for digging into the ship's side but not causing any real damage and this was proven when the drills clamped themselves in place on the hull.

* * *

Squads of Marines were running down the halls of the ship with pulse rifles and smart guns in their hands preparing for action as the entire ship rumbled.

Suddenly a drill looking object pierced the hull completely shredding a marine or two in the process, one drill was followed by another and then another until there were at least six or seven drills imbedded in the ship's hull.

The Marines kept their distance form them raised their weapons toward the drills preparing for the worst as the drill blades themselves began to shift and retract back until there were only hatches that opened up with a hiss.

Out of the hatch hoped a figure clad in black sectional armour that was adorned with skulls and bones, the figure had the dreadlocks of a Yautja but unlike a Yautja's they were spreading backward and its skin was a lot scalier and darker.

This figure was then joined as a lot more of its kin as more leapt from the hatches wearing all sorts of black armour with varying trophies and helmets.

"OPEN FIRE!" one of the marines shouted as all the marines began firing everything they had at the black Yautja. Some of the warriors got riddled with shells and fell to the floor bleeding terribly while others managed to avoid the bullets or have them bounce off of their armour as they charged the marines.

One of the Yautja threw their combi stick which impaled a marine against a wall, the Black Yautja the collided with the marines and began to use their close combat weapons to stab, slice and tear at the marines.

One Yautja would decapitate a marine while another would rip their arms off; many of the Yautja killed their opponents in different ways all of which were brutal and merciless.

It didn't take long for the Black Yautja to slaughter the marines while sustaining a few losses themselves, one Yautja that looked like a high ranking warrior raised his Glaive and let out a roar before leading the other warriors deeper into the ship.

* * *

The other two black yautja ships fired many of their drilling pods at the Asclepheus' sides piercing the hull.

The Marines on board the Asclepheus had constructed several barricades in the hallways in order to buy many of the crew members time to get to the escape pods; the barricades gave the image of trenches in a world war situation with the soldiers leaning their guns on the barricades to steady them.

Black Yautja warriors emerged from the corners and charged the marines who let off a war cry and unloaded everything they had, pulse rifles, smart guns, RPG's and even a rocket launcher or two.

The Black Yautja however did manage to get a few cloaked warriors behind them in order to outflank the marines. The halls quickly became coated in glowing green blood and crimson red blood of both species as the marines and warriors slaughtered each other in the halls of the colossal ship.

* * *

Blair was in his office and was scrambling through his notes in a hurry trying desperately to find something until he finally found it his remote. This remote was to open up the segments of the ship containing the worst menageries on board along with burst open the locks of a very special room down below.

Blair got the remote and typed a few numbers and combinations into it causing one of the lights on it to blink rapidly.

* * *

Deep in the lower levels of the ship the door that containing the Xenomorphs opened up and from there came the sounds of scurrying as thousands of Facehuggers swarmed from the depths of the ship intent on latching onto the faces of whatever they came across.

* * *

"Holy shit man this is fucked up!" one marine with short blonde hair said

"Shut up your startling everyone else up private!" another marine said

"Startling! STARTLING! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING MAN!? WE'RE DEAD! FUCKING DEAD! GAME OVER MAN! GAME OVER! WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW!?" The marine screamed as the other grabbed him and smacked him in the face

"GET IT TOGETHER YOU SON OF A BITCH OR ILL KILL YOU MYSELF!" the other marine bellowed at him.

A lot of the marines had managed to barricade off the Black Yautja and were taking shelter in a munitions room. There were at least 50 marines all together in this room and more than a few were freaking out probably due to missing limbs and what they had just experienced.

"Now we have to get an attack plan together, we have to find a way to get to the bridge to get a distress signal out for help" the same marine said

"Well that's a fucking stupid plan, in the event of an attack a distress signal is sent out immediately along with schematics of the ship in order to send it to the right response team" another marine said

"Yeah so all we got to do is get to the escape pods and get the fuck out of…" one marine started until a Facehugger leapt from the shadows and latched onto his face this caused all the other marines to start freaking out as thousands of Facehuggers swarmed the room latching onto their faces one by one. One marine would try to fire a few shots only to get stopped by a Facehugger leaping onto his face and wrapping a tail around his throat.

The blonde marine who was freaking out quickly pried the door open and quickly shut the door behind him and blocking it shut with a few gas barrels he found nearby.

"GOD DAM IT YOU OPEN THIS DOOR NOW YOU FUCKING COWARD!" one marine screamed at the top of her lungs from the other side as the marine blocking the door heard the screams of the marines on the other side of the door die down as each one was taken by a face hugger. It didn't take long for the screaming to be turned into complete silence.

The marine began to back away with his eyes watering but as he turned around he saw something that filled him with pure terror.

One of the ship's experimental creatures the Aurelian Skarnak had broken free from its enclosure and was right in front of him ad was drooling from its Maw of a mouth. The creature grabbed him with one of its pincers and shoved him into its mouth causing its hundreds of rows of razor sharp teeth to shred him into tiny little pieces. The marine quickly disappeared into the creature's mouth and was rejected as a red mist out of one of the vents on the creature's back with an audible wet hissing noise.

* * *

Norma had finished getting her research notes together as she and Sophie rushed to pack everything away with the sounds of panic and screaming in the back ground but as the two turned to the door way they froze to see a Black Yautja warrior standing there with extended Wristblades.

The Black Yautja then gave out a hellish chuckle as it approached the two human females. Norma got in front of Sophie in a defensive stance as the creature approached slowly until it halted.

The creature then gave out a choking sound as a katana blade pierced its throat from behind and sliced the creature clean in half down the middle causing glowing green organs and blood to splatter on the floor. Eli was standing there with a katana coated in glowing green blood wearing his full gear he then turned to Norma and Sophie and asked in a clear voice.

"You two want to live? Then follow me and stick close" he said before swinging his sword behind him decapitating a Black Yautja that tried sneaking up on him while cloaked.

That little display made up Norma and Sophie's minds as they quickly began following Eli closely as he cut down any Yautja that stood in his path.

* * *

A group of Black Yautja had just finished slaughtering a squad of marines and were busy de-skulling them and skinning them. One Black Yautja was busy gutting a female marine's corpse and was actively desecrating her body.

"Filthy Oomans don't know when to quit! Did you see the look on her face when I cut her legs off?" the Black Yautja chuckled causing the other hunters to laugh

"Little bitch shot me in the leg! Not so tough now are..." the Yautja was interrupted by getting a knife imbedded in his skull.

Rezeal leapt from one of the banisters above them and threw another knife into a nearby Yautja's throat causing him to choke on his own blood.

Another Yautja ran at him and swung his Wristblades at him, Rezeal simply grabbed a hold of the Yautja's arm and kicked him in groin causing him to fall onto the ground giving Rezeal the time to grab a knife from the Yautja's belt and slit his throat with it causing green luminescent blood to spill all over the floor.

Rezeal finally drew his Shortsword and Hookblade and cut off another Yautja's arm following up with a kick to the throat crushing the Yautja's windpipe. Another Yautja tried to impale him on his combi-stick, Rezeal dodged it and jammed his Hookblade into the Yautja's head bringing him close enough for a stab to the neck before ripping his head clean off.

Two Black Yautja attacked at once with their Glaives attempting to behead him, Rezeal instead of ducking like many would leapt upwards and split kick the two Yautja at once, he landed and swiped his Shortsword and stabbed the Black Yautja in the chest before bringing it down in a saw like motion causing the Yautja's innards to spill all over the floor. The other Yautja stumbled around dizzily giving Rezeal enough time to get bring his Hookblade onto the Yautja's shoulder and yank him onto the floor letting Rezeal violently step on his face causing his head to cave in.

Rezeal looked over the assorted corpses and retracted his helmet back showing the look of pure hate in his reptilian eyes as he looked at the Black Yautja corpses in particular.

"Scum like you deserves nothing less than death" he whispered under his breath as he marched past the corpses into a quick jog to meet up with Eli.

* * *

Things aboard the Quatermaine weren't going so well as the Black Yautja were continuing their onslaught with the humans barely able to fight back.

"KEEP THOSE REAR BATTERIES FIRING!" Captain Grey shouted his orders.

"SIR THE INVADERS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE MID SECTION OF THE SHIP!" one Pilot shouted back

"FUCK IT, TELL THE MEN TO ABANDON SHIP!" the Captain said

"But sir if we abandon the ship now the mission is lost!"

"In case you didn't notice if we aren't in control of the mid-section it's only a matter of time before those bastards get to the bridge and take full control of the ship and slaughter every last one of us!" the Captain said grabbing the pilot by the scruff of his neck.

"Besides the newton is still in fighting condition and if I know Captain Azarov she will have a plan of her own" Captain Grey said

"Now get the men to abandon ship!"

"But sir what about you?" the pilot asked

"Never mind me you get into the escape pods now!" the Captain ordered. The Captain's orders where followed by the sounds of the blast doors being rammed from the other side, the captain looked to the marines in the room beside him and spoke in aloud steady voice as the pilots evacuated the ship.

"Men it has been an Honour and a Privilege serving beside you. Right there beyond those doors is a force of savage predators worse than the likes of the Yautja I fought in the Great War. These creatures have no sense of honour, duty or mercy and will not hesitate to hang you with your own intestines!" Nathanial said to his men.

"It is a complete certainty that none of us will make it out of this alive! The Reaper is waiting for us Boys! He has fuelled up his truck and is ready to haul our sorry arses to the next world! BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT I SAY?! I SAY WE MAKE HIM WAIT A LITTLE LONGER AND TAKE A FEW OF THESE FUCKERS KICKING AND SCREAMING WITH US!" Nathanial shouted drawing a sword from his chair as all the marines at his side simultaneously let out a battle cry.

"HOORAH!" the marines cried out readying their weapons

The blast doors were then ripped open and Black Yautja began to pour out of the opening charging with their weapons raised as they did. The marines opened fire with everything they had causing a few of the Black Yautja to become riddled with bullets falling to ground dead.

Grey drew his pistol and fired off a few rounds at the Yautja getting a few well-placed shots, he targeted the most vulnerable parts of them such as the legs and their throats were the armour was thinnest, it didn't however take long for the Black Yautja to clash with the marines who fought back with everything they had, Grey slashed at the Yautja taking off limbs and inflicting crippling wounds to them.

Grey swung his sword at one Yautja slitting its throat causing it to fall to its knees where he could easily decapitate it. Grey turned only to lock eyes with one hunter that was obviously of a higher rank than the others, the hunter charged with its Wristblades drawn as it clashed with Grey causing sparks to erupt from their blades.

The hunter gave Grey a powerful kick to the chest sending him crashing into one of the control consoles. The hunter quickly ran to Grey and pushed him into the console casing him to drop his sword, the hunter then looked at the Captain's coat particularly the stripes signifying his rank as Captain and let out a hellish chuckle before landing an uppercut knocking Grey unconscious.

* * *

Grey's eyes groggily opened and it took a few seconds for his vision to properly return to his organic eye while his cybernetic eye rebooted. In the room where the scattered and mutilated corpses of many human marines while next to him where a few of his lieutenants were tied up next to him.

The Black Yautja had taken over the bridge and a few of them were analysing the controls, a new figure came into the room. A large Black Yautja wearing ornate armour and a red patterned cloak , it looked like an Elder only this creature didn't look nearly as regal as it's armour was just as rugged and gritty as that of one of the hunters.

This Yautja was most defiantly the leader due to the way he walked with a superior stance and the way the hunters bowed their heads to him. The Yautja that knocked him out seemed to be his second in command as they spoke to each other.

"5 Oomans still alive my lord….the one with the synthetic eye is their commander" the Hunter said to the Elder.

"Very good Tra'kan, what of the other ship?" the Elder asked in a deep commanding voice

"The men have only to take the bridge and the ship will be ours" Tra'kan said

"Very good" the Black Yautja Elder said as he strolled toward the Oomans staring through his mask at Grey the entire time. The Elder crouched down in front of Grey and reached up to the tubes connecting his mask and gave them a sharp yank resulting in a few streams of gas jetting out. He clasped his mask and gave it a sharp pull revealing his face which by the standards of the Yautja Grey had seen was ugly as fuck.

This Elder's face was more pointed like a snout as his mandible dent outwards as opposed to the sideward mandibles the regular Yautja had, his face had more of a whitish pigment and had rings and piercings adorning his face, one of his mandible tusks was slightly broken as the rest had runes engraved on them.

"I recall this is how humans speak….am I correct?" the Elder asked the captain

Grey didn't respond and simply glared at the Elder

"A bit bitter about how my men slaughtered yours like cattle?" the Elder replied nonchalantly

"Go fuck yourself" Grey said with venom in his voice as he spat at the Elder

"I see you still have some fight in you, oh well I was hoping we could progress without any more bloodshed….and we still can but it all revolves around your co-operation captain" the Elder said standing up

"GO TO HELL YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" the Captain bellowed at the Elder who simply smiled at him before turning to the Hunters stood behind Grey's lieutenants and nodded.

The Hunter then drew their weapons and tore the lieutenants heads off as brutally as they could, the look of shock on Grey's face said it all as he watched his men's bodies get horribly mutilated right in front of him.

"I can tell it is going to be a pleasure getting to know you Captain" the Elder smiled as he turned and walked away.

Tra'kan walked up to Grey and smiled behind his mask before knocking the human unconscious once again.

* * *

Ok everybody the plot has arrived and the Black Yautja have made themselves known, now this chapter was really fun to write and I could use a bit of feedback in the form of a comment/review or a PM. Now for the questions that I would like answers to:

-what did you think of the attack?

-would you like more action or less?

-what do you think of the Black Yautja especially the Elder?

-what did you like?

illustrations of the Aurelian Skarnak and the Kamads can be found on deviantart page - artisticaldarkness

Whatever you think let me know because I could do with some feedback, Next chapter we will be returning to Humanity's greatest soldiers a year after we left them.

NEXT CHAPTER: Im gonna have me some fun


	9. Chapter 8: im gonna have me some fun

Chapter 8: I'm gonna have me some fun

**Location: Planet Hermes**

"Go ahead punk….make my day" Michael said with a glare in his eye

"You better watch who you're talking to boy" Vlad replied with a menacing tone

"You guys aren't getting out of this intact" Hanzo spoke up

"I could say the same for you Han" Baako chipped in

"Well lads it was fun while it lasted, but I have to finish this" Erik told his troops

Erik flipped his hand of cards on the table causing the other myrmidons to widen their eyes.

"Royal flush" Erik grinned

"AAH DAM IT!" Michael shouted

"CHTO ZA HUY!" Vlad cursed in Russian banging his head on the table top

"How is that even possible?" Baako asked wide eyed

"Six games in a row is quite suspicious major" Han said

"Ha ha, it's called luck boys. Get used to it" Erik said gathering the chips up in his arms

"No one is THAT lucky sir" Baako commented with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah….you're a bit TOO lucky" Han said with suspicion

Erik simply laughed at this until Han grabbed his arm and felt something up his sleeve. Han reached up the Major's sleeve and fished out a bunch of cards.

"Luck eh?" Baako asked

"Uuh" Erik stuttered

"Seems like our virtuous commanding officer has a secret or two of his own" Vlad said raising his head up revealing the mark he left in the table from him slamming his head into it.

"Well …c-come on boys...it was j-just a bit of fun" Erik began sweating and backing off as his teammates as they inched closer

* * *

Sasha was walking through the base hallways over to the lounge where most of the guys were. Over the long year since the Michael had joined, the team hadn't changed all that much. Sasha still didn't trust Michael…something about him just felt off and it made Sasha a little nervous around him. Erik didn't find anything wrong with him except his inexperience which quickly dissolved as he was learning from the best.

As Sasha got to the door leading to the lounge she heard the sounds of grunting and shouting from the other side. She then opened the door slowly to see Erik, Vlad, Baako, Hanzo and Michael all wrestling each other on the ground.

"Ahem" Sasha got their attention causing them all to stop

"…..hi Sasha" they said simultaneously

"Major the general wants to speak to you" Sasha said to Erik who was quick to get back to his feet and straighten himself out. All the myrmidons especially Erik all knew that it wasn't wise to keep the general waiting.

"I'm on my way now" Erik said marching out the room leaving Sasha staring at the others who were still on the ground and had each other in headlocks.

"I'm still wondering how we are the elite" Sasha said face palming.

* * *

"_Good to see you again Erik, how's the team?" _the General's blank hologram said

"The team is fine General, now what's the reason you called?" Erik asked

"_Straight to the point as always, Major what do you know of the Asclepheus_?" the General asked

"The Asclepheus…you mean the research ship?" Erik asked

"_Precisely Erik, a few hours ago the ship came under attack by…unknown forces_"

"Unknown forces?"

"_A species that was neither Yautja nor human_"

"….a sentient species?"

"_That's what our sources point to; apparently in the transmission it mentioned that a sentient race boarded the ship a day before the attack_"

"Must have been an infiltration attack"

"_We have yet to rule that out, though it is a possibility_"

"But…why are WE being sent to deal with it? We are equipped to fight Xenomorphs not sentient aliens" Erik asked

"_Because the distress signal wasn't the only thing we picked up, we also received this message"_ the general said before an image popped up showing the one image that always made Erik's blood run cold. The unmistakable visage of a Xenomorph warrior was leaping at the screen or whoever took the photo.

"Xenos" Erik said with his voice full of hate

"_Exactly, in this matter you and your team are our best soldiers' humanity has, it's your mission to get aboard that ship and purge the infestation_" the General said

"Purge sir?"

"_You have to detonate the ship's energy core; it's the only way to ensure that no Xenomorphs get off that ship alive_"

"Wouldn't nuclear ordinance be a better course of action sir?" Erik asked

"_The Asclepheus is so large sale that it would take an entire fleet's worth of ordinance to even penetrate its shields and hull, not to mention there are several alien ships keeping tabs on the ship. I'm afraid that a stealth approach is the only viable course here Erik_"

"What will we be using for explosives?"

"_The payload will arrive with the ship that will pick you up tomorrow at 09:00 hours, I expect both you and our team to ready for it"_

"Don't worry sir, my team and I can handle this" Erik said as the hologram of the General fizzled out.

* * *

Erik went out onto the porch of the compound and looked up at the stars, nowadays whenever someone looked out at the stars they would be shopping for new property, but with Erik he saw a universe that was still unknown to the human race, ever since that incident as a child he knew that…

"Hello sir, having a night time stroll" came a Spanish accented voice from above Erik. Erik looked up to see the Spanish Myrmidon Ramirez sat on the roof with a sniper rifle in his hands.

"I see you are doing the same Ramirez" Erik said

"How could I not? Is very rare when the skies are clear on nights like this" Ramirez said. The planet Hermes was known for being very cloud at night and in this instance the sky was clear as if they were on earth.

Like most colonized worlds Hermes was very cloudy due to the atmospheric converters it had. That didn't mean the planet was hostile or dreary and dull like most other planets, Atmospheric converters where way more advanced than they were a few years ago but still had a few glitches such as the mass production of clouds into the atmosphere.

"Why don't you ever come inside and play some poker, you know get a few drinks in you?" Erik asked, Ramirez wasn't exactly the most sociable one of the group as he liked to fight and live at a distance from most things.

"I don't drink alcohol Major, it puts my sight off. As for poker…..well let's just say my poker face isn't as good as Hanzo's" Ramirez said with a chuckle

"You have a point there…..and by the way we have a mission in the morning so be sure to get a good night's rest" Erik told the sniper

"Si Major" Ramirez replied looking into the distance with his eyes ever vigilant.

* * *

Meanwhile on board the Asclepheus Eli and Rezeal had regrouped and were still leading Norma and Sophie to this ship so that they could get the hell off of this hellhole.

"How much further?" Norma asked

Rezeal checked the scanner on his gauntlet and read out the distance between them and the Elite ship.

"About 4890 miles" Rezeal said nonchalantly

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Sophie shouted

"SHH keep your voice down!" Eli whisper shouted, they had to be stealthy as not to draw any unwanted attention from any of the ship's new residents.

"But that's the length of the US to Germany! There isn't any way we will be able to go there by foot!" Norma whispered

Eli grunted and exchanged looks with Rezeal before exchanging a few words in Kamad.

(What do you think?) Rezeal said in his Native tongue

(I don't think these two are built for long distance walking, I think its best we set up a camp so they can rest and we can plan out what to do next) Eli responded in his Native tongue

(Should I gather what supplies I can?) Rezeal asked

(Yeah I think its best that I stay with them to make sure they're safe) Eli said, Rezeal nodded and ran off to go and gather supplies such as food and water.

"Where the hell is he going?" Sophie asked pointing to Rezeal as he vanished after a while

"Rezeal is searching for supplies, we are setting up camp and resting" Eli said

"Camp? Are you serious?! With those things all over the ship?" Sophie asked

"Unless you want to walk the 4890 miles then yes!" Eli replied with a bit of force behind his voice as he came to a door and tried to open it.

"Dam it, its locked" Eli said as he thought about tearing the door off of its hinges

"I got it" Norma said as she crouched down and pulled the control panel off the wall and began to fiddle with the wires behind it, after a few sparks flew out the door opened easily.

"There we go" Norma said happily as she stood up.

"I could have opened it" Eli said

"Yeah but my method didn't involve tearing a door to pieces" Norma said with a smile

Eli simply grunted as he entered the room and was followed closely by Norma and Sophie. The room was intact but abandoned as every human on board was either dead or evacuated; Eli began checking the smaller rooms with his katana drawn.

"Are you always this jumpy?" Sophie asked Eli as he took a long sniff of the air

"When I'm in a ship full of Black Yautja that want to rip my head off and the heads of two young human girls and my best friend? Let me think…..yes" Eli replied

"Good god what's gotten into you recently?" Sophie asked again

"Sophie look at it from his point of view, he got sent out from his home planet to perform a diplomatic mission for his people then in the span of a day it turns into an invasion by another alien race and he has to fight for his life and ours" Norma intervened before Sophie said the wrong thing to the 9 foot alien samurai.

Once Eli had finished scouring the room he started a fire with parts of furniture due to the lack of electricity present at the moment, Eli always thought the old ways were the best after all.

Norma and Sophie where sat by the fire and Dexter was sat on Norma's lap sleeping soundly, Eli on the other-hand was sat by the fire and was tending to his Katana by rubbing it clean with a cloth. Kamad steel was nigh indestructible so sharpening Kamad blades was a fool's endeavour as Kamad swords never lost their sharpness.

"What are they?" Norma asked

"Who?" Eli said cleaning his sword

"The Black Yautja. You know what they are?" Norma asked again

"You know their cousins the Yautja am I right?" Eli said

"I know them" Norma stated

"We met their races over 17 thousand years ago, way before your people were born. Their people were a twin race and shared a planet which was very rare to find a twin race that had evolved so much without having destroyed one another yet, together their races where the finest race hunters in the universe" Eli said reminiscing

"Race Hunters?" Sophie said

"It's the term we use for a race that hunts other sentient beings so said beings can advance further and achieve the ability to strive for the stars, it looks like the Yautja did a fine job with you" Eli said

Rezeal entered the room with his arms full of food and water canisters and set them down away from the fire.

"Interrupting something am I?" Rezeal asked as he sat down

"Not at all Rez, I was getting to the part of the story you tell the best" Eli said

"And which story is that?" Rezeal asked

"The tale of the Yautjas" Eli replied

"Which part have we gotten to?" Rezeal asked again

"The separation" Eli answered

"Ah yes how could I forget? The two races lived in peace and flourished in each other's company for many thousands of years and spread out across the stars colonizing many worlds. That is until one faithful day the sovereign of the Black Yautja declared the mass genocide of all the 'lesser' Yautja, over two thirds of the Yautja population were decimated in a single night. The survivors managed to flee and find refuge on one of their far off colony worlds." Rezeal stopped for Norma to ask a question

"Why did the Black Yautja try to kill the Yautja?" she asked

"No one knows except the Black Yautja themselves, from the accounts of the Yautja who experienced it they simply went mad and began slaughtering those in their way" Rezeal said

"Ever since then the Black Yautja have made the decimation of the Yautja their purpose in life, they are merciless, have no regard for honour and see all other races as dirt beneath their feet" Eli said sheathing his Katana

"So why are they attacking us?" Sophie asked

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, it makes no sense why Black Yautja would randomly attack a human ship without a reason for doing so" Eli rubbed his temples

Eli sighed and decided that today was long enough and these girls needed their rest so they could go further tomorrow.

"I think its best you two get some sleep, you'll have a long walk ahead tomorrow. The two rooms over there should be sufficent" Eli said

"What about you?" Norma asked

"We don't need that much sleep, plus we have to keep watch and make sure you two are safe" Eli replied

"My heroes" Sophie replied sarcastically as the two went into their separate rooms

(She isn't really that grateful is she?) Rezeal asked Eli in Kamad

(I believe she is what humans call a bit bitchy) Eli replied back in Kamad

The two kamads stood watch as the two girls fell into a deep sleep in their beds, the two kamads then looked to each other.

(Do you think we can make it out of this with them alive?) Rezeal asked

(I don't know my friend, i know for a fact that we should be able to get to our ship without any major difficulties. But I don't know if they won't hold us back) Eli said with a regretful tone

(Hold us back?) Rezeal questioned

(Yes, it seems humans are less physically capable than we first thought. I don't think they will be able to travel to the full length of the ship without problems) Eli said

(So whats the plan?) Rezeal asked

(….We rest for now, as long as nothing unexpected happens I suspect we will be able to reach a more reasonable length tomorrow as long as nothing unexpected happens) Eli analysed, the one thing on his mind was on how he was going to get him, Rezeal and the girls out of there in one piece.

* * *

The Myrmidons where sat in the back of their ship as Erik gave the briefing.

"Alright ladies this mission is of the highest calibre and we are the only ones who are capable of completing it….a few hours ago the research ship known as the Asclepheus was attacked by an unknown alien species that have managed to take over the ship along with the two warships escorting it" Erik said

"Hey Sasha was your sister on one of those ships?" Baako asked

"My sister Cynthia is a captain, but I believe wholeheartedly that she has gotten out safe" Sasha replied, Erik continued the brief

"Images received from the ship shows that not only have an alien species taken over the ship but there is also an inconceivable number of Xenomorphs on board" Erik said as Michael raised a hand to ask a question

"How many Xenomorphs are estimated to be on-board sir" the American Myrmidon asked

"Enough to pose a significant threat, our mission is to take these highly explosive nuclear detonators and attach them to the Asclepheus' drive and energy cores thus destroying the entire ship and the Xenomorphs with it" Erik finished

"What are the aliens packing sir?" Vlad asked

"Unknown Vlad, but they managed to capture the Asclepheus and the two warships within a few hours, which makes them a force to be reckoned with. We are not to engage them unless completely necessary" Erik ordered the others.

"Any other questions?" Erik asked

"Can I put the radio on sir?" Michael asked

"…." Erik gave him a glare

"…alright" Erik said after while

"YES! I know just the song to get us in the mood" the Rookie said as he fiddled with the radio until a song came on booming.

'Gonna tell aunt may, bout uncle john'

'He claims he has the music, but he has a lot of fun'

'Oh baby….Yeaaaah Baby, wooo baby'

'im having me some fun tonight, yeah'

The song boomed through the ship and the Myrmidons smiled at the brilliant choice of the little Richard song.

"I love this song!" Vlad bellowed

"Can't beat long tall sally! Am I right Major?" Baako asked earning a chuckle from the Major who nodded and went into the cockpit next to the pilot to leave the team to enjoy their song.

"How long before we reach the Asclepheus?" Erik asked the pilot

"About 20 minutes Major Reaver" the Pilot replied in a synthetic voice due to the helmet he was wearing

"Very good be sure to alert us when we reach it" Erik patted the pilot on the back before returning to the others.

* * *

"Wakey wakey little ape" rumbled a deep growly voice

Captain Grey's eyes opened up and before him he saw the same Black Yautja whom had knocked him out before…Tra'kan was his name is Grey remembered correctly.

"Fuck you" Grey responded weakly as he felt he was still tied up but in a sitting position this time, he looked around to see he was on the bridge of the Asclepheus and was sat in a chair. The thing that he dreaded had also come to pass, across the room Captain Azarov was also tied up and was unconscious.

"Ah Captain so good to see you are awake" came the voice of the Elder from before as he approached Grey and crouched down in front of him.

"Now I believe that when you were last awake I didn't get a chance to introduce myself properly" the Elder said in a friendly manner.

"I am Elder Ma'zax of the Black Yautja clan" he introduced himself to the Captain

"And this is Tra'kan my second in command, I apologize for his manners for he doesn't really respect the enemy like I do" Ma'zax said

"Why….don't you just…kill...me?" Grey wheezed out causing Ma'zax to curl his mandibles into a smile

"Oh Captain….why would I kill you this soon? I need you alive for the later stages of this….operation" Ma'zax said with a joyous tone

"I would….rather die…than…help you" Grey managed to say

"Oh rest assured Captain….you will die…..but only when I have what I want" Ma'zax announced with a look of combined malice and joy which to be honest put fear into Grey's heart.

"What...is it…that you…want?" Grey asked

" Captain, Captain, Captain….your dull human mind wouldn't be able to comprehend it even if I told you….but I will ask for something you can comprehend….what are the access codes for the ship's drive core?" Ma'zax demanded

"….I'll tell you where they are" Grey replied as Ma'zax leaned closer

"They're in hell where I sent your hunters and where I'm going to send you when I get out of his chair" Grey spat at the Black Yautja Elder

"And I thought you were a reasonable man Captain….oh well, Tra'kan will take care of you and will attempt to get the answers through whatever means he can perform….have fun" Ma'zax smiled as he walked away.

Tra'kan reached into a pack and pulled out a device that looked like a highly advanced buzz saw only hand held and more surgical looking, Tra'kan smiled and edged closer towards Grey starting up the device causing the blades to rotate rapidly.

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun…..ape" Tra'kan replied with a wide smile before driving the saw towards the Captain as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

* * *

Man that chapter was fun to write and I hope you guys enjoyed it.

-what did you like?

-what do you think will happen next?

-what did you think of my partial explanation for the Black Yautja?

whatever you think leave it in the form of a comment/review or PM


	10. Chapter 9: A Hunt is Afoot

Chapter 9: A Hunt is Afoot!

* * *

Sha'ra was walking through the Markets of the clanship looking to buy some wares for preparing trophies she had yet to clean. That is until her brother Yeyinde came running down the market knocking over other Yautja in the process who would reply with a raised fist or a snarl of anger at the Hunter as he rushed towards his sister.

"SISTER!" Yeyinde shouted to his older sibling as he rushed through the crowd

"Yeyinde?" She spoke as he came to a stop in front of her, he was clearly out of breath and was panting loudly

"Brother calm down, gather your breath. Then tell me what is wrong" she said patting her brother on the back as he was bent over panting

"Uncle requests your presence immediately, its important" Yeyinde panted

"Why?" Sha'ra asked

"It's to do with the task force" he said, this surprised Sha'ra as in the two years since the task force had been formed they hadn't done anything substantial.

* * *

"What is it uncle?" Sha'ra asked stepping into her uncle's quarters, Zen'tau was sat at his desk with a holo-disc in between his fingers.

"I recently got a message from high command; apparently a large hunting party of Black Yautja has attacked a Ooman ship somewhere in the gamma quadrant and we have been tasked with intervening" Zen'tau spoke

"How large is the hunting party uncle?" Sha'ra asked

"…large" Zen'tau replied

"Why would so many Black Yautja be in the gamma quadrant though? And why attack a Ooman ship?" Yeyinde asked

"I know not my nephew, but what I do know is that it is our duty to hunt down as many Black Yautja scum as possible, we will have to perform this task with the upmost stealth in mind if we even hope for the mission to be a success.

Sha'ra pondered in thought for a moment which gained the attention of her uncle

"Sha'ra what's the matter?" Zen'tau asked his niece

"Nothing Uncle I….I just need a moment alone" Sha'ra said before leaving her uncle's quarters, Yeyinde looked to Zen'tau who gave him a nod to go and talk to her.

* * *

Sha'ra had gone for a walk down the botanical gardens of the clanship in order to clear her mind, she was never one for starting wars or being a soldier, she was a huntress and a dam good one at that, she wasn't fit to fight in any sort of war. In fact the only reason she agreed to become part of the task force was to keep an eye on her younger brother and protect him if necessary.

"Sister" Yeyinde called to Sha'ra

"I said I wanted a moment alone brother" she told Yeyinde

"I know what you said sister, all I want to know is why you had to storm out of uncle's quarters like that" he asked his smaller sister

"We aren't soldiers brother, we are hunters and we don't have to do this" Sha'ra

"We have to do this sister, otherwise the Black Yautja will continue to slaughter our people without mercy. We agreed to join the task force for a reason" Yeyinde told his sister

"I agreed to look after you brother, I don't want to lose you to those murderous scum. I promised mother I would look after you and that's exactly what I intend to do" Sha'ra said forcefully to her brother who despite his larger height was still weaker than his sister who commanded a more powerful presence than him.

"I know what I must do sister, how long will it be before they become so bold as to attack us where we live? We can stop that from happening sister…all I need is you at my side" Yeyinde told his sister

Sha'ra let out a sigh, her brother was always as stubborn as this and when he got an objective he never let it out of his sight until he achieved it. it was one of the reasons he had gotten to such a high rank despite his young age.

"….very well Brother…ill go, But only to look out for you" Sha'ra told her brother who smiled and gave her a hug

"Oh thank you sister" Yeyinde said as he lifted her up of the ground with the hug, Sha'ra only laughed as her brother span around with her in his arms.

* * *

Aboard the Asclepheus, the Black Yautja had managed to take control of the majority of the ship's systems and the Elder Ma'zax was sitting in what used to be the captain's seat. His huge size made it a tight seat but he got used to it eventually and took glee in the human and alien aspects of the ship's design.

"Isn't it interesting? How the Oomans managed to integrate their technology with something infinitely more advanced than them. For all their inferiorities and weaknesses you must admit they are a curious race" Ma'zax said before taking a sip of his mug of c'nlip

"I'm only interested in how easy it is to kill them my lord" one hunter said to him causing some of the other hunters to let out a chuckle

"That is why you will never be an Elder" Ma'zax said silencing the other hunters, the hunter who made the previous comment seemed to be offended by this.

"What? Did I say something that offended you?" Ma'zax asked turning to the hunter who gave a glare back at the seasoned Elder

"Well allow me to explain this to you, the Hunter who underestimates his prey always ends up dead, the Hunter who overestimates his prey gets his trophy….but the Hunter who insults and thinks his prey is lesser ends up nothing but a Honourless mangy tarei hsan (insect)" Ma'zax said causing the hunter to growl at him with his mandibles twitching.

Ma'zax rose from his seat and walked over to the hunter and stared him dead in the eye with a calm look on his face.

"You are the latter my friend" Ma'zax said causing the hunter to roar and extend a combi stick only for Ma'zax to thrust a hand into the hunter's throat and tear out his windpipe in one fluid motion, luminescent blood spilled out all over the floor as the hunter fell to his knees and spluttered blood all over the floor while reaching to his throat with both hands.

Ma'zax then grabbed the back of the hunter's head and tore it off with the use of only one hand before throwing it to the floor and wiping the blood off on the limp body. The other Hunters remained silent as Ma'zax seemed very nonchalant about brutally killing one of his own men, he then raised his mug to his mouth and took another long gulp before going back to the chair.

"I have no use for hunters who look at themselves as superiors…..as long as I am in charge then you will do and agree with everything I say or I won't think twice about tearing you apart…is that understood?" Ma'zax announced to the hunters gathered around the room, the silence pretty much spoke for itself

"Good" he said before sitting down, the door to the bridge then opened and Tra'kan stepped in with a look of annoyance on his face.

"My lord…..the Ooman captain still refuses to talk" Tra'kan told the Elder

"The captain must be more durable than I thought, very well allow the captain to rest then have another go at him in a few hours" Ma'zax said

"That isn't all my lord" Tra'kan said

"What else then?" Ma'zax asked

"One group of Hunters was found dead in one of the outer sections of the ship" Tra'kan announced

"They must have died in the combat taking over the ship, its nothing to worry about" Ma'zax told him

"But my lord…..they died of wounds that don't match any Ooman weapons" Tra'kan said

"What did they die of then?" Ma'zax's curiosity grew a little

"They were killed with Bladed weapons that leave the distinct signature of the swords the Kamads use" Tra'kan said, the other hunters around the room traded glances and Ma'zax replied in kind

"If there are Kamads on board this ship then they risk ruining the entire plan…..send out a few groups to hunt them down….lead them yourself so they do not fail" Ma'zax said in a commanding tone

"It will be done my lord" Tra'kan bowed before leaving the room

* * *

The Myrmidon's ship had managed to touch down in the hangar bay. The ship had managed to sneak past the four large Black Yautja ships unnoticed.

"Is the artificial atmosphere holding?" Erik asked the pilot

"Readings say that the air is safe and breathable sir. It should be safe to board the ship without the use of oxygen masks" the pilot replied looking at the schematics

"Don't take off until we come back, and be sure to guard the ship if push comes to shove" Erik patted the pilot on the shoulder before going into the back of the ship.

"Ok ladies get suited up, we got a long trek to get to the core so let's not waste any more time sitting around" Erik said putting his helmet on as the face plate clamped down.

The Myrmidons leapt out of their ship and into the hangar bay to see the lights were all either flickering or not functional at all. The bay was full of unused cargo crates and heavy lifting machinery that gave the place a very eerie feel.

"The only thing missing is a sign saying 'abandon all hope ye who enter here'" Baako said gripping his pulse rifle

"Way to ease up the tension Baako" Vlad said as he retrieved his pulse minigun from the ship

"Enough chit chat, we got a long way to the core so I say we get on the move" Erik ordered the others as they got their equipment ready including their weapons, ammo and the supplies they would need for this mission.

"Ramirez get this door open" Erik said as they reached the blast doors, the Spanish Myrmidon got his bypass kit out and tore open the access panel for the doors and began to fiddle with the wires

"How long is this mission gonna last Major?" Michael asked Erik

"As long as it takes Rookie" Erik replied as the blast doors opened revealing the dark misty interior of the ship. The Myrmidons activated the night vision in their helms and the laser sights on their weapons and began to make their way through the ship.

* * *

"How much longer?" Sophie asked with a moaning tone

"We'll get there when we get there" Eli replied in an annoyed tone at how much Sophie was moaning

"Can't we just take one of the trams?" Sophie asked

"Oh of course we should use one of the trams, alert the Black Yautja to our presence so that when we do get to the ship they use their ships to blow us to smithereens, why didn't I think of that?" Eli replied sarcastically

"It was just a suggestion" Sophie muttered

"Well next time think before giving us any more 'suggestions'" Eli said as he led the group

The group had been walking for a while and things where not looking up as they didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"How long have we been walking for exactly?" Norma asked

"About 3 hours" Rezeal replied

"Ok we can't keep walking without a rest" Sophie said but Eli seemed to ignore her

"I said..." she began until Eli cut her off

"I know what you said, I just chose to ignore you" he stated blatantly before suddenly stopping dead in his tracks.

"What did you stop f…" Sophie went to ask until Eli raised a closed fist and gave a few long sniffs and looked off into space, Rezeal went up to him and whispered in kamad

(What is it? What do you smell?) He asked

(…..something big) Eli responded

"What is it?" Norma asked before Dexter began screeching and clinging to Norma as the two Kamads heard something approaching and drew their weapons in anticipation.

"You two may want to get back" Eli warned gripping his Katanas

Suddenly from around the corner a massive creature turned to let out a bellowing screech at the two Kamads, the creature looked like some sort of cross between a centipede, a scorpion and a worm. Its armored exoskeleton covered most of its hide including its two large pincers and its maw containing thousands of sharp rotating teeth.

"What the fuck is that?" Eli asked

"It's an Aurelian Skarnak; don't let it get ahold of you!" Norma warned the two Kamad warriors as the Skarnak attacked first.

It tried to grab Rezeal who propped its pincers open with his Hookblade and Shortsword making the creature screech and try to grab him with its other pincer which Eli leapt on top of and impaled it against a wall with his Katanas.

The Skarnak let go of Rezeal and went use its free pincer to get Eli to get away, it swiped its pincer at Eli which he leapt up and landed on what could be called its head while Rezeal grabbed the pincer with his Hookblade and cut it off with his Shortsword.

The Skarnak let out a painful screech and shook its head around trying to get Eli off as he had difficulty keeping his balance. Eli then back flipped onto a lower segment of the Skarnak and noticed the vents in its back, he then flourished his swords before stabbing the Skarnak in the vents causing black blood to jet out of the wounds as the creature cried out in pain.

Eli then drew back one of his swords and reached into his coat pulling out an object that looked a lot like a grenade only more advanced looking. Eli then rammed the grenade into one of the vents on the Skarnaks back before sprinting off its back into a jump. He then landed next to Rezeal and they both ran, picking up Norma and Sophie on the way.

"You girls may want to cover your ears" Eli warned as the Skarnak began writhing around until its midsection exploded into blue flames blowing it in half causing black blood to splatter all over the walls.

Eli and Rezeal then looked back with Norma and Sophie still in their arms and let them down. Dexter was still clung to Norma and was still shaking like a fuzzy maraca.

"Wow…..remind me never to piss you guys off again" Sophie said as they all looked at the sizzling remains of the giant arthropod.

"You….killed it, that fast" Norma said amazed at how skilled these two Kamads where

"Oh that's nothing…as long as there aren't any more of those things onboard then we'll be fine" Eli said

"There are actually 9 onboard including the one you just killed, along with hundreds of other species" Norma said, Eli and Rezeal then let out a collective sigh and began walking again.

"Hey where are you going?" Sophie asked

"We just got attacked by one of the reasons we have to get off this ship. If we don't get to the ship soon then more of those fuckers will track us down and we may not be able to protect you next time" Eli explained as he and Rezeal got further and further away

"Hey wait up" Norma said as she and Sophie caught up with them

* * *

Ok there we go another chapter done, hope you enjoyed it

A bit of fair warning the next chapter will concentrate on the Yautja and the Myrmidons


	11. Chapter 10: The Enemy of my Enemy Pt1

This next part is going to be a two parter as I don't want these chapter going on for too long

Enjoy everyone

* * *

Chapter 10: The Enemy of my Enemy pt1

The hunting party of Yautja had finally arrived at the Asclepheus; their ship had the necessary cloaking tech to keep the Black Yautja warships from detecting them and blowing them to smithereens. The Hunting party hadn't boarded the ship yet as they still had to find somewhere to park the ship without drawing too much attention to themselves.

Sha'ra, Yeyinde and their uncle where sat in the back of the ship with the other hunters whom were gathered for the mission, there where at least 3 hunters of the dark blade clan who were considered the elite clan among the Yautja and could be told apart by the darker colour of their armour, two of the dark blades were males while the other was a female. The difference in height between Sha'ra and this other female was apparent as Sha'ra was about 6 foot 5 while this female was around 8 foot at the very least and rivalled in height only by Zen'tau and one of the other Dark blades.

There were another 4 hunters from Sha'ra's clan present all of whom were males and were reasonably well equipped, they were obviously elite hunters due to their intricately patterned armour and advanced weaponry.

Yeyinde was dressed in his Elite armour which was varied from the other Yautja as he had a red shoulder cape and a gold pauldron on his right shoulder, his mask also bore many intricate Yautja runes due to his high status. Yeyinde may have been the nephew of an elder but that had nothing to do with his high rank, he had achieved the rank of elite through hard work and determination to become like his father.

Sha'ra was wearing her Elite armour also, hers was a bit less extravagant and was made to be more practical for fighting and hunting while other hunters customized their armours for intimidation or display.

At the moment Sha'ra was looking out of one of the ship's screen windows at the Asclepheus and needless to say it was a sight that she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. The ship was way bigger than the clanship she grew up on and it dwarfed the black yautja ships which was a hell of a sight to say the least.

"I never thought the Oomans would be capable of something like this" Sha'ra said to the others

"Don't let it fool you Sha'ra….those Oomans are not to be trusted not matter how far they may have come" Zen'tau said adjusting his cybernetic arm in case of battle

"Elder Zen'tau is correct, the Oomans used to be prey but now they are naught but enemies" the Dark Blade female said

"But you must admit…..they have progressed very well in order to make something like that" Sha'ra said with her eyes fixed on the ship they were circling.

"_**if you would prepare yourselves, we are about to port with the vessel" **_the pilot said through the intercom.

'_Here we go'_ Sha'ra thought to herself as she put on her mask and readied her glaive

* * *

The Myrmidons were making their way through the dark innards of the ship with the red laser sights of their guns shining through the misty parts. The Myrmidons had been scouting the ship for a good hour and a half before they stopped as Erik held up a fist in a stopping motion.

"Alright people, spread out and see what you can find, that means anything from survivors to evidence of what the hell happened" Erik ordered the others lowering his pulse rifle

The Myrmidons spread out across the room except for Vlad who sat down and took a breather, it was understandable as Vlad had been carrying most of the ammo and supplies with him due to his larger size and considerably greater strength.

"Hey Major….I think I found something you may want to see" Hanzo called making everyone else come towards him

Hanzo was squatted down next to something and the other couldn't see what it was until they got closer and when they did they saw the corpse of a human marine. The wounds inflicting looked gruesome and his armour was covered in blood not to mention his intestine were hanging out.

"Good god, what the hell happened to him?" Ramirez asked

"Tell us what happened Han" Erik asked

"Death unfortunately wasn't instantaneous and by the look of the wounds it took him about 30 minutes to finally bleed to death" the Japanese Myrmidon explained

"What the hell did this? I know for a fact that Xeno's don't simply gut someone and leave them to die" Erik asked

"Whatever did this didn't think it was worth the time or effort to finish him off as he defiantly bled to death. The cut that spilled his entrails was performed by an edged weapon and a lot of power was put behind it" Hanzo explained further

"It's a miracle he lasted as long as he did, whoever did this knew what they were doing because the cut is clean as hell" Baako commented

"Uh Major" Michael chipped in

"What is it rookie?" Erik asked turning to see what Michael was looking at and with that his eyes widened slightly. The entire hallway was littered with the corpses of marines, all killed by different means, Erik walked over to one of the closest ones and inspected the wounds on the body as did Vlad. The body had a massive hole in its chest that looked like it was blown out.

"No powder burns or shrapnel sir, whatever did this had some major firepower" Vlad commented

"The ribcage was split open instantly, not to mention the wound is cauterized yet there isn't any blistering of flesh or burns to speak of…..looks Yautja but its…..off, almost like it's a bit out of character" Erik said

"Out of character sir?" Vlad asked

"Yautja hunt for sport Vlad, they kill their prey and take trophies…..if that's true then what are these?" Erik asked pointing to the multiple stab wounds in the corpse's head

"What the hell?" Vlad asked

"Whatever killed this marine didn't do it for sport…it did it for fun" Erik said with disgust as he reached forwards and took the Marine's dog tags.

"Retrieve the dog tags everyone, it's the very least we can do" Erik stood up and the Myrmidons retrieved the dog tags before proceeding further into the ship.

* * *

Meanwhile on another level of the ship, the Black Yautja hunting party led by Tra'kan was making its way through the ship in search of the survivors.

Tra'kan stopped and knelt down to see the remains of what looked like a fire and picked up a handful of the ash and took his mask off revealing his snouted mandibles and sniffed it, making sure to feel its temperature in between his scaled fingers. Tra'kan's skin colour was a very dark green and his helmet was that of an elite of his people and his armour was adorned with skulls and trophies he had taken in his long life.

"Only a few hours old…they can't be far off" Tra'kan said in Yautja with a grin before standing back up and turning to the other hunters.

"I want those Kamads dead! Is that understood?! I want to deliver their heads and their swords to lord Ma'zax myself with minimum fuss! And if you fail in this task I promise that even the Black warrior's wrath would seem miniscule compared to what will do to you!" Tra'kan bellowed in Yautja before putting his mask back on with an audible hiss.

* * *

Another group of Yautja had entered the ship and were making their way through the hallways being sure to stay cloaked in order to avoid drawing attention.

"Uncle, I never asked, how exactly are we going to exterminate the Black Yautja?" Sha'ra asked the taller Elder

"We are to attach detonators to the ship's energy and drive core's, that in turn will cause an explosion that will kill everything within a certain range, that includes the Black Yautja ships" Zen'tau said as the hunters kept walking through the hallways being sure to keep their thermal vision on its maximum setting.

Over the years the Yautja had managed to upgrade their vision modes in both their masks and their eyes. When before Yautja could only see the heat given off by their Prey which was proved after many hunts to be insufficient when the prey would figure out their vision was heat based and a simple coat of mud could prove to be more valuable than any weapon thus leading to the hunters demise.

Now their masks could use hundreds of different vision enhancements as opposed to a few, bio engineering among the species was now common and elite hunters and huntresses could have their eyes enhanced to see in not just heat but light as well. Sha'ra had this process done to her and needless to say the way the visual spectrum of light worked took her breath away and filled out a lot of the blanks that came with thermal vision.

"Picking anything up?" Zen'tau asked the hunters

"Negative Elder Zen'tau, all we are reading is each other" One Hunter replied

"I'm picking something up on my motion vision my lord" The Female Dark blade responded

"Everyone halt!" Zen'tau whispered sharply causing everyone to stop and almost on cue he sound of grunting and snorting came from in front of them

"Everyone switch to the light spectrum" Zen'tau whispered as the hunters obeyed

The sight caused the hunters to immediately stiffen and silence themselves. The entire corridor was full of these unfamiliar alien creatures; these creatures were at least 8 foot tall and had the look and posture of a silverback gorilla with stubby but muscular legs with very large forearms. The creatures had a strange sort of armour plating that looked like that of an armadillo that was at least a few inches thick which must have been the reason why their thermal vision couldn't pick them up. The creatures had tuffs of brown fur poking out between the armour plates which gave them a very mammalian appearance along with their very Boar-like faces which sported two large tusks from their lower jaw, and there were at least 14 of these creatures and they just seemed to be sniffing and snorting around the place in search of something.

Zen'tau thought it strange that these creatures didn't hear them up until now and noticed these creatures didn't seem to react to sound that well especially as they were making a lot of noise themselves and didn't seem to get startled with any metallic clanking. Zen'tau thought it best to try an alternate route at these creatures looked like they could cause some serious damage if given the chance.

Zen'tau raised his hand and made a few gestures telling the others to fall back slowly. The Hunters all began to back away as slowly and steadily as they could until one of the larger creatures stood up on its hind legs and began sniffing loudly through its large boar-like nose, the hunters stopped dead in their tracks on reflex as the creature while up on its hind legs stood tall over the hunters giving it a very threatening appearance.

'wait a minute…it has bad hearing and I bet its eyesight isn't anything special…..but what about its smell?" Sha'ra thought as the creature let out a low pitched Boar-like squeal alerting the other creatures which all began sniffing and looking toward the hunters.

"Oh Pauk!" Yeyinde swore as the creatures saw through the Hunter's cloaking devices and began slowly advancing toward them

"Dam it to hell! We must stand and fight!" one of the Dark Blade males shouted readying his Wristblades

The creatures charged at the Yautja who engaged the creatures as best they could, Zen'tau extended his combi stick and began to grapple with the large male who alerted the others which was obviously the Alpha male of the group, Yeyinde used his Wristblades to try and stab one of the creatures in the head, Only his blades failed to pierce the creatures hide and simply bounced off of it forcing him to leap out of the way as it brought its fist down to try and crush him.

Sha'ra was using whatever skills she could to try and avoid the creature's attacks as it flailed its large armoured arms at her, her small size made it a lot easier to avoid its attack but she felt her back press against a wall as the creature snarled and leapt at her.

Zen'tau saw this and punched the creature he was fighting in the nose with his cybernetic arm causing it to start choking, he used this time to extend a suriken and throw it at the creature attacking his niece. The suriken imbedded itself in the creature's eye causing it to scream in pain as green blood leaked from the wound.

Zen'tau was then hit full force by the Alpha male as it began its attack again and was sent crashing into a wall leaving a dent, the Alpha male leapt at Zen'tau and tried to bite his face off only he defended himself with his combi-stick which its mouth got lodged on.

Sha'ra took the chance she had and drove the blade of her glaive through the creature's eye socket, putting as much force as she could the blade went straight through its head, killing it. she then looked back to her uncle who was struggling against the Alpha male and leapt onto its back and stabbed it in-between one of the gaps in its armour causing it to reel back and spin out of control while trying to get her off its back.

"Sha'ra what the hell are you doing!?" Zen'tau bellowed as the creature span around and began to ram its back against a wall, Sha'ra managed to barely dodge the wall as the creature began to fracture it.

"Dam it it's going to bring the wall down!" Yeyinde called as he rushed to save his sister, Zen'tau quickly grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Stop! If you get in the way you'll just get yourself killed!" Zen'tau shouted at his Nephew

The Alpha male let out one last roar before ramming into the fractured wall causing it to cave in and break through, unfortunately the wall they broke through was right next to an elevator shaft which caused both Sha'ra and the Alpha male to plummet down into the darkness

"SISTER!" Yeyinde screamed as he saw his sister fall into shadow, he broke free of his uncles grip and rushed towards the opening in the wall and tried to see if she was hanging on the side or if the shaft wasn't that deep. But all he saw as he looked was a chasm that descended into complete darkness, Yeyinde felt tears fall down his face and he tore his mask off with a hiss.

Zen'tau quickly ran over to his nephew and put a hand on his shoulder and as Yeyinde turned around Zen'tau saw the look of sadness and despair on his face. Zen'tau brought his nephew closer and felt him weep on his shoulder. Zen'tau didn't want to show it but he felt exactly what his nephew was feeling, he had promised his brother all those years ago that he would watch over these two as if they were his own….he had failed…..again.

* * *

Meanwhile on another level of the ship the Myrmidons were continuing their trek along the ship and needless to say that so far they hadn't seen much action. The motion trackers built into their helmets weren't picking up anything so far and to be completely honest that was a good thing.

"Well…this sucks" Michael moaned

"Shut it Rookie, we are doing this mission regardless of whether it is exiting or not" Erik said keeping his focus on the mission at hand.

"You have to admit things aren't as bad as they sounded Major, I was expecting an attack or an ambush by now" Vlad stated

Erik sighed and knew that Vlad was correct in his statement, for a ship full of different alien species and Xenomorphs he was expecting something to have attacked them or at least approach them. Things were way to quiet and that was just plain unsettling to say the least.

Suddenly the silence was broken with the sound of their motion trackers going off, and this wasn't the usual blip, this was the sound of thousands of signals flooding the sensors until they sounded as if they would explode.

"What the fuck?" Michael gasped as the audio of his motion tracker nearly burst his ear drums

"Major I'm getting massive readings from in front of us!" Hanzo called cocking his pulse rifle

"Same here Major, the readings are off the fucking charts!" Baako said as they had never encountered readings on this level before

"Lock and load people, be ready for anything!" Erik ordered as the Myrmidons obeyed by cocking their guns and standing their ground waiting for the inevitable.

Hundreds of Xenomorphs then began to pour out from the darkness, screeching and snarling as they charged the Myrmidons without hesitation.

"LIGHT EM UP!" Erik shouted as the Myrmidons unloaded on the Xenomorphs, shredding them to pieces and dismembering them, causing their acidic blood to splatter upon the walls and framing of the hallway.

"GET SOME YOU UGLY LITTLE FUCKERS!" Vlad laughed as he poured hundreds of rounds of minigun fire at the horde of Xeno's

All the Myrmidons unloaded their pulse weapons on the Xeno's until they stopped charging and became to retreat back to where they came from.

"HA THAT'S RIGHT YOU BETTER RUN YOU LITTLE SHITS!" lad laughed as the Xeno's ran

"Something's not right" Erik said reloading his pulse rifle

"What do you mean sir?" Sasha asked

"They retreated too fast, it's not right" Erik said as he approached the sizzling carcasses of the Xeno's they had killed

"Its almost like…" Erik began until his motion tracker began beeping again

"They wanted to test our firepower!" Erik realized as they regrouped and readied their weapons for the next wave but what turned the corner made their eyes widen.

"You've got to be fucking kidding!" Ramirez cursed as the myrmidons saw three crusher Xeno's slowly approaching them. The massive head crests were made of pure bone and could stand heavy gunfire, they were also made for the purpose of crushing the bones of whatever they rammed into.

"MAJOR?! ANY IDEAS!?" Hanzo shouted as the three huge Xeno's charged

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Erik shouted as the team each leapt out of the way as the three massive crushers tried to ram them but failed to hit anyone.

"Vlad, Sasha, Baako, you guys take care of the one on the right! Hanzo, Ramirez, Michael you take care of the one on the left while I take the one in the middle!" Erik ordered the others as they nodded and drew their close combat weapons and charged the crushers from behind.

Due to the crusher's main method of attack being their head crests, their tails weren't made for fighting back and attacking from behind was usually the best way of fighting a crusher.

"RAAAAAAAGHGGHGH!" Vlad roared as he charged the Crusher from behind and shoulder bashed it into a wall letting Baako leap onto its back and Sasha pin its tail to the wall to stop it from moving.

Hanzo leapt onto the back of the other Crusher's head and drove his sword into its neck causing it rapidly shake its head while screeching, Ramirez used his sniper rifle to shoot its legs out so Michael could drive his cutlass into its underbelly and begin trying to gut it.

Erik drew his broadsword and held it in both hands as he ran at the last crusher which had managed to turn itself around to counter attack Erik. The crusher swiped at Erik in an attempt to cut him in half or at least knock his head off. Erik quickly crouched down to avoid decapitation and in turn swung his sword, cutting off a few of the Crusher's fingers, he then charged at it and drove his sword into its ribcage causing it to screech in pain.

The crusher then grabbed a hold of Erik and held onto him tightly so he couldn't get free.

"MAJOR!" Vlad called as Bakko had finished cutting off the Crusher's head, Vlad ran as fast as he could to help Erik.

The Crusher the sliced its own throat causing its acidic blood to pour all over Erik and the floor, Erik's myrmidon armour was made withstand the acidic effects but the floor wasn't and began to sizzle and dissolve extremely fast underneath the Myrmidon Major's feet.

Before the others could make it to Erik the ground beneath him and the crusher gave way and both fell down the chasm created by the acidic blood.

Vlad leapt to grab Erik's hand at the last minute but missed his hand by an inch causing the Major to plummet down into the depths of the ship.

"ERIK!" Vlad roared at the top of his lungs as he saw his commanding officer, his friend disappear into the shadows while still in the iron grip of the crusher.

Baako knelt down beside Vlad and put a hand on the big Russian's shoulder, now that Erik had slipped off into the blackness it was Baako's duty to take lead.

"There was nothing you could do Vlad" Baako said

"Bullshit…I could have saved him" Vlad said

"I…..just wasn't strong enough" Vlad said as he gazed down into the blackness, Baako then roughly grabbed Vlad by the collar of his armour and yanked him up

"You listen to me Soldier! The Major wouldn't want you of all people moping around after something like this! You are the squad's biggest gun and our heaviest hitter and if you don't do your duty I'll kill you myself!" the Kenyan Myrmidon shouted at the larger Myrmidon.

Vlad could see the seriousness in Baako's eyes behind his red helmet visor and could tell that Baako was affected too. Vlad had never expected something like this to happen on any mission but Baako was right, the Major wouldn't want them to be moping around after a set-back like this, they had a mission to complete and Erik would want them to complete it.

Vlad hoisted his minigun up and smiled

"I would like to see you try sir" he replied

* * *

Well everybody things are really getting interesting aboard to Asclepheus aren't they?

Feel free to tell me what you guys think about the story so far in the form of a comment/review or PM me

See you next time in:

Chapter 11: The Enemy of my Enemy Pt2


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